Zootopia: Shake-Up
by YACOV
Summary: The events of the Missing Mammals Case were only a new beginning for the citizens of Zootopia. Few issues that shake up the status quo are ever fully resolved, and often expose issues no one bothered to take notice of. After Judy's first year at the ZPD and Nick's appointment as her partner, many deeply held misconceptions still pervade Zootopia, and many more changes are in store.
1. Chapter 1

_Message and motivation from the author:_

 _When I saw Zootopia, there was a great deal of enjoyment to be had from visiting a world made by Disney. It brought back great recollections from childhood but it also provided a unique spin on this genre of stories and played out in its own way: not with a fainting damsel or royalty, nor with naive but otherwise flawless individuals. It took the form of a modern fable by Aesop to describe core issues within our own society, past and present. I also enjoyed what the film availed an involved viewer with a healthy imagination._

 _The makers told an unusual story given the genre and normal target audience, but more than that they created a world where more stories were possible. The characters were stripped of many of the skin-deep aspects that may limit our interpretation, and deeper issues were given different faces. While still male/female, prosperous/disadvantaged, and generally Western in scope, the world of Zootopia offers a look at acceptance, prejudice and societal norms and expectations that allows different people to identify with the same characters or scenarios in very different ways._

 _Judy is a rabbit who wants to make the world a better place as a cop, but her struggles could be looked upon as those of a woman in a male-dominated field, or any other underrepresented group trying to break the mold and fulfill a dream in a non-traditional pursuit._

 _Nick is a fox who wants to be accepted, but the intolerance he deals with can be compared to anyone who is marginalized by prejudicial discrimination against race, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, or other tribal identity._

 _Judy's and Nick's own prejudices about one another show that we all have our biases. We may not show often show hate or fear, but we all carry some level of prejudice. Further, the friendship between these two shows that we need not allow these prejudices to define us, or dictate our personal relationships with each other… also it shows that we can overcome our personal prejudice and evolve our view of the world._

 _Reaching an understanding of these basic truths will not solely change the world, but it is a place to start from and get a few new ideas and behaviors added to the mix - a way to begin a bubble-up in improved social tolerance. Together Judy and Nick provide a means to look at a number of social issues and examine stories in this vein._

* * *

 _Expectations for the reader:_

 _This is only the first of a long collection of stories I intend to write that cover the lives of both Judy and Nick after Zootopia_ _ends. Each of these stories can cover a few days or several months, and while they all thread together, each story deals with a stand alone topic, and Judy and Nick both deal with their own issues, sometimes together and sometimes apart. I envisioned an entire span of existence following the lives of the two main characters that dealt with the ups and downs of life. While there is a level of excitement included in order to keep the stories entertaining, I will not be writing a series of grand-scale or episodic adventures that show no evolution. Rather my stories will be 'life' adventures: chances taken, tasks employed in, successes had, and failures suffered… all of the vicissitudes that define existence, and told in a linear form so one story follows another, and bridges crossed cannot be undone._

 _While not recorded as a 'romance', I will employ romantic elements in this compilation as and where I feel it is important. I do enjoy writing bits that have sexual tension or are leading to sex, and will include them as part of the overall story, but only to the extent that they are 'part' of the story and help to make it fun. It is my intention to avoid explicit descriptions of acts of mating for any of the characters. The stories I write that involve this level of mature content will be given the appropriate rating. If the story is at an appropriate level for teenagers or mature kids I will rate it as such._

 _While love is a binding characteristic in some relationships in the Zootopian world that I am crafting, finding niches for themselves, achieving goals, gaining respect on their path to acceptance and happiness, and the never-ending journey that defines personal growth are the real forces that drive this story and compel me to write._

 _I have modeled the main characters as much as possible on the archetypes referenced by Disney. Thus Judy is crafted from the hyper-driven, blind-with-peppiness-and-ambition characteristics of Leslie Knope from NBC's Parks & Recreation, with a bit of Superman's righteousness and farm town sense of justice thrown in for good measure. For Nick, it was the lovable antics and great talent of Cary Grant (whose characters I have borrowed from 'To Catch a Thief', 'Holiday', 'Charade' and 'Father Goose') combined with the disaffected loner and somewhat unwilling heroics of Han Solo from Star Wars. Each of these characters will see growth over time, wisdom will be gained, even a bit of jadedness will be thrown in, but each will retain aspects from their initial conception._

 _I use Judy and Nick as the primary vehicle for each story, however they should be treated as a means to look at broader issues and not an end in and of themselves._

* * *

 _Rules:_

 _When dealing with the operations of the ZPD (departmental policies, organization, rank-structure, etc.) I have referred to the rules of the NYPD as I understand them from my research, with some artistic license taken for a fictitious world. I am not myself a member of any law enforcement agency, or any law-related program, and thus my words should be scrutinized carefully and not taken as truth or the result of real world observation or direct experience._

 _A lot of rules in biology including anatomy (eye positions and articulation of joints in particular) and physiology (lifetimes) had to be broken or modified in order to create Zootopia and I want to avoid unnecessary additions to that list. However, some things need to be addressed in order to satisfy population biology and a host of other logistical dilemmas that fans have identified. Here are a few things that I will_ _set as canon for this story in order to address observations in the movie and avoid the Malthusian catastrophe of unchecked population growth, among other problems that fans are so concerned about:_

 _All healthy animals from Judy's size to essentially Bogo's size can expect roughly 80 years, like humans in modern, industrialized nations (Judy was roughly 25 at the end of the movie). Due to their larger size, elephants will have lifespans more closely approximating 100 years. Smaller animals like shrews, squirrels, mice and rats (pretty much all of Little Rodentia) will live approximately 40 to 50 years._

 _Gestation periods for these animals will also be modified to match with the expected lifespan, so the majority of animals will carry their young for the standard 40 weeks like humans, elephants will have 50 weeks, smaller rodents will be 20 weeks (which fits with Fru Fru's advanced pregnancy after a couple of months). Natural laws of scaling are more logarithmic relative to size but exceptions abound. Bear in mind that these numbers are only for the purpose of telling the story, and are not representative of actual scientific data for actual rabbits, foxes, etc._

 _Also, the rate of birth, and the number of litters will be modified. I am going to write-off the ticking population counter of Bunnyburrow as broken, and a joke among some townsfolk (it was a joke by the creators anyway and we never saw a hospital with lots of birthing bunnies). The 'Carrot Days' fair only looked large enough to host a few thousand, so the real population of the town is perhaps in the tens of thousands._

 _Bonny Hopps taking care of 276 rabbit kits by the time one of them is nine seems like an impossibly unsustainable familial arrangement. Since the bunnies waving goodbye to Judy included several rabbits near in age or older than her parents, these could be uncles/aunts or a generation older still. This could offer the possibility of the whole Hopps 'clan' living together and sharing the same carrot fields. In this arrangement, the term 'brothers and sisters' could include actual brothers and sisters as we think of them, as well as all cousins of the same generation. In the film, Bonny said Judy had 275 brothers and sisters, but she never said she herself had 276 kits. If words like 'cute' have been co-opted by bunnies, then familial naming conventions may have species-specific connotations as well.  
In this way, Bonny and Stu may only have a few kittens that are strictly the product of their own mating, which allows them to give Judy special attention, while the majority of Judy's 'brothers and sisters' are actually cousins with their own moms and dads._

 _Given the slower rate of physiological development (Judy is still dependent on her parents at age nine) the time between successive litters would also tend to increase, especially if litter sizes for rabbits are several kits. So Bonny may have only had two or three litters in her lifetime (not small, but not quite leading to the Malthusian disaster as quickly as fans predict)._

 _The result of these biological rules/modifications/adjustments prevent the world from being eaten bare by prey animals, follows the general idea of physiological scaling, is substantiated by what we know of changes to family sizes in developing and developed nations, and accounts for several back-stories. For example: Nick knew Mr. Big's Grandmama, though Mr. Big seems rather old to have had a rather recently deceased grandmother capable of doing her own baking, unless their species ages a bit faster than Nick. In the future this could also result in Judy outliving her shrew god-daughter, or elephant officer Francine outliving Judy._

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_

 _Now that I have established my rules, let me further state that the name Zootopia and all its associated content are the property of the Walt Disney Company, and any other references to popular culture are made for parody or to offer a link between our world and this one (e.g. Motown Records, Eric Clapton, James Taylor, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, iPaw, etc.)._

 _The tuckerization of names is meant to provide references to these real-life individuals with animal counterparts._

 _None of these stories are of proprietary content or meant to provide anything for the reader other than mental stimulation (which I hope these stories do provide)._

 _…_ _and now…_

 _Story time!_

 _This first story is meant as a prologue and Judy and Nick are setting the stage for more to come, while the focus is on a few of the more ancillary characters of the film._

 _So, without further ado, we visit the world of Judith Laverne Hopps and Nicholas Piberius Wilde, two friends and momentarily off-duty police officers at the conclusion of a large public concert given by the Zootopian popstar Gazelle._

* * *

"OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH!"

Hearing one friend rave about meeting a celebrity can be annoying. Hearing friends rave in stereo, as Nick Wilde now heard Judy Hopps and Benjamin Clawhauser doing, was bordering on insufferable.

Following the special Celebrate Zootopia Concert thrown by Gazelle, members of the ZPD were invited to come to the afterparty with the star and all the supporting crew and performers involved in the concert. As a ZPD member, Nick was invited to participate, or rather strong-armed into participating by Judy. Big concerts were not his thing, and a press of other animals he preferred to avoid, but he put up with it for his friend. Now they were funneling down backstage to get to the party space, and having been dragged to the front, Nick was among the loudest and most vocal fans.

Naturally the three biggest Gazelle fans on the force were here at the front, though of them, Chief Bogo insisted his excitement was only a passing interest. Judy and Ben did not even attempt to keep a reasonable volume or offer any qualifiers when they expressed excitement. The vocal raving Nick now endured in both ears was sure to drive him mad if the doors did not open soon.

Judy had tried to corral her parents into attending as her plus two (whether or not that was allowed), but they had begged off and taken the bus from the concert to the train station to get back to Bunnyburrow. She understood this was not their thing and had let them go after a kiss goodbye. She had felt a little down that none of her siblings could attend, but at the moment she could only with difficulty keep from screaming like a starstruck preteen at the thought of meeting her favorite pop artist. She clung to Nick and squeezed his arm in excitement.

One of the backstage security guards opened the door and waived the ZPD officers in. Both Judy and Ben were practically skipping while holding their paws to their chins. Nick, Bogo, and a few of the other ZPD officers that opted to attend came in more calmly.

The room had several bright lights, white surfaces, tables with festive decorations, and screens all along the walls showing the record logo of Gazelle's patron company as well some product placement by Preyda.

As Judy entered at the head of the ZPD contingent none other than Gazelle herself came forward to welcome them.

"Hello Judy Hopps," she said with a smile. Peering over the little rabbit's shoulder she spotted the russet-furred fox. "And Nicholas Wilde. I'm Gazelle. It's a pleasure to meet you both."

Judy began quivering and making excited squeaking sounds, Nick gave a warm smile and nodded his head with a polite _hello_.

"And to all of you," Gazelle addressed the arriving officers as she lifted her head. "Most distinguished guests, it is an honor to have you all here. We are all grateful to you for your dedicated service to Zootopia. Welcome. Please make yourselves comfortable and enjoy."

The contingent of officers began to disperse and mingle about the room with sound engineers, backup dancers, roadies, and even a few executives from the patron company that supported Gazelle. Ben Clawhauser stood next to Judy, having kept his eyes on Gazelle every moment since he arrived. Nick also hung close to Judy as the room began to fill, and Chief Bogo came forward to greet the hostess.

"Hello, and on behalf of my officers thank you very much for inviting us, Ms. Gazelle."

She smiled back.

"Chief Bogo, I am so glad you have come. Please, allow me to get you some refreshments."

Bogo, Judy, Nick and Ben both followed their hostess to one of the bars and we're treated to an assortment of possible libations. Once everyone held a glass of one liquid or another, the hostess attempted to engage the cohort in conversation. Ben and Judy were all but shaking with excitement.

"So glad you agreed to come to the party." She said. "You have done so much to keep the peace these last several months since the scandal at City Hall. I am just so grateful you have kept Zootopia together."

Bogo spoke for the group. "We've done no more than our duty, ma'am. But we are grateful for your acknowledgement. Events like these prove we're preserving some wonderful things."

"You enjoyed the concert?" Gazelle asked.

Judy and Ben squealed, Bogo brightened but tried to keep his response restrained to a dignified bow of his horned head.

"It was nice." Nick answered matter-of-factly.

Judy and Ben looked absolutely scandalized at his comment and Bogo arched an eyebrow at his newest officer while Gazelle did not seem to take any offense.

"You seem like pop music is not really your style, Mr. Wilde." She stated, eyeing him like someone who knew the difference between those who came to her concerts specifically because they liked her music, and those who came more for the purpose of spending time with a friend who liked her music. She could tell he was more of the latter sort and had an understanding smile for him.

Nick smiled in return. "I enjoy pop music well enough, and I thought you did a great job Ms. Gazelle, I'm just more of a classic rock, or slow-beat kind of fox."

She nodded and leaned forward to whisper.

"Can you keep a secret?" Nick intoned a mild _sure_ , while the other three nodded vigorously and leaned forward.

"I enjoy modern Zootopian artists, but in my own time I really love listening to some more classical music from Marten Gaye or some of Smokey Rabbitson's songs."

Judy's eyes went wide, Ben hiccuped, and Bogo's and Nick's eyebrows went up.

"No kidding," came Nick's reply. "I'm more for James Scaler or Aaric Clipton, but I love artists from Mole-Town too."

His smile suddenly turned knowing and crafty and he looked toward his portly, cheetah friend.

"In fact, Ben weren't you listening to Smokey the other day at the front desk when I came in? You seem like a pretty big Mole-Town fan yourself."

The fox turned the group's attention to the cheetah and Ben's face fell as the spotlight suddenly came his way. Gazelle looked at him with the interest of a fellow enthusiast and Ben hesitantly confirmed.

"Uh… yeah. Yeah I always loved listening to Mole-Town while growing up. Still do."

Judy caught on to Nick's game, trying to draw Ben out here in Gazelle's presence and joined in before their friend could shy away.

"If I recall Ben, a few weeks ago I was coming in after Nick's graduation and just as I got near the front you started singing one of their songs… oh, what was it? 'Through the _great_ vine'?" Judy intentionally misquoted the song title, forcing Ben, the laid back cop but zealous song aficionado, to leap to the bait.

"No, no Judy it's ' _I heard it_ through the _grapevine_ ', and I changed a few lyrics to fit the news about Nick. Remember…" and he launched into his own variation of the classic.

 _It took me by surprise, I must say,_

 _When I found out yesterday,_

 _Don't you know that I heard it through the grapevine._

 _Not much longer_ _till we get new guys_ _._

 _Oh, I heard it through the grapevine._

 _Oh,_ _take charge, make sure they toe the line,_

 _Bunny, bunny_ _yeah..._

Bogo put one hoof between his eyes and massaged his tensing muscles. Judy gave an awkward glance at Nick who gave a shrug. Gazelle smiled and took up the beat, finishing the quieter chorus section of the song.

 _I heard it through the grapevine,_

 _Not much longer_ _till we get some new guys, bunny_ … _Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah._

She giggled.

"Clever of you, Ben."

Ben froze and turned pale. He had gotten his favorite celebrity to find genuine humor at one of his playful tunes, and had earned a compliment with his name in the response, all in one go. He was suddenly finding it difficult to perform simple things like breathing, focusing his eyes and keeping correct posture. Nick, seeing his companion starting to freeze-up, surreptitiously reached back to tug on Ben's tail. The cheetah instantly straightened, and Nick gave the conversation one last jolt of energy.

"Yeah catchy, but Gazelle is there a particular song from Mole-Town _you_ like most? It would be great to hear you sing it."

Judy was not far behind.

"Maybe you and Ben could sing it together. Ben's voice would really compliment yours."

"That will be enough officers," Bogo interjected. "Our good hostess just spent several hours singing for all of Zootopia, I think she's earned a rest from singing anymore for us tonight."

Ben suddenly snapped out of his reverie. He felt half-relieved and half-horrified that he might miss a chance to do one of his favorite hobbies with one of the animals he most admired.

Gazelle's response freed him from the turmoil.

"Oh no Chief Bogo, the performance was exhilarating, I would sing more if I could. And it is rare I meet someone who enjoys the songs from Mole-Town as much as I do. Ben, you will sing with me?"

Ben's mouth had dried and his power of speech consequently diminished. He tried to nod, but his neck felt locked in position from nervously-seized muscles. Judy elbowed him in the gut and he coughed out a faint _sure_.

"Oh good. Here, I have the instrumental version of one of my favorites on my iPaw. Let me put it on speakers and we will sing."

She went to a nearby stereo mount and placed her iPaw in the slot. After a few screen taps a familiar beat started coming through. Nick grinned and started bobbing to the beat while Judy slowly caught on too. Hearing this particular song, Ben's face took on a look of further astonishment. He met Gazelle's gaze and would have been lost in it if not for his reflexive need to sing right when the lyrics were supposed to begin.

The cheetah belted out.

 _Listen baby._

 _Ain't no mountain high, ain't no valley low, ain't no river wide enough baby._

Ben had a half decent voice, but it was when Gazelle chimed in that everyone around the room took notice.

 _If you need me call me. No matter where you are, no matter how far._

On cue Ben belted out.

 _Don't worry baby._

...and Gazelle continued.

 _Just call my name, I'll be there in a hurry. You don't have to worry…_

Now Ben moved closer to Gazelle and the two of them started grooving together as the duet came on.

 _Cause baby there ain't no mountain high enough. Ain't no valley low enough. Ain't no river wide enough, to keep me from getting to you baby._

The other members of the ZPD were absolutely enthralled. This was Ben Clawhauser: the fat, doofy desk officer who spent his time playing with an app where he pasted his face on a dancer next to Gazelle. Now he was doing an actual duet with her. McHorn and Delgato were slack-jawed, Fangmeyer, Wolford and Grizzoli were similarly stunned, and Bogo couldn't find any words.

Nearest the singers, Nick was still bobbing his head and Judy was grooving along. She preferred more energetic, get-up-and-dance music, but she was really liking the spectacle of Ben singing with Gazelle.

When the song ended, Nick and Judy immediately started clapping and Ben did a bow for them. The whole contingent of officers that had surrounded the scene took up the response and clapped as well. Gazelle gave a bow.

"That was fun, thank you for that Ben." She said to her duet partner.

This time Ben felt pumped from singing and spoke to her without fear.

"Thank you too Gazelle. I've never had someone do a duet with me for one of these songs. So… that's not your favorite Mole-Town song, is it?"

"I am no' sure I have a favorite. So many are so good."

"I knew it. I figure that's the mark of a real fan. If you say you like the group then you must like a lot of their songs for a whole host of reasons."

Gazelle nodded. "Yes, that's why I listen to them so much in my own time. They have songs for almost every one of my moods. What other music do you like?"

As Ben dived into the vast collection of his favored genres and tunes, Nick leaned over to whisper in Judy's ear.

"How about we let things go from here Carrots?"

She looked at him and nodded, then eased away from the conversing Ben and Gazelle.

As Judy and Nick walked away to mingle with the others in the room, Nick could not help but crack a self-satisfied grin at the turnout.

"Ben and Gazelle having some things to talk about. I wouldn't have guessed they'd get on so well."

"I'd never have guessed you would try to play at match-making, sneaky fox." She quipped.

"Match-making? Sneaky? I just wanted to get Ben to at least say something to his pop idol. Maybe he won't play with that dancing app anymore and I won't have to say the avatar looks like him."

She shoulder bumped him and took a sip of the drink she still had in her paw. He grinned back and saluted her with his own glass before taking a sip.

* * *

Bogo was pleased to see the evening progress after the spectacle of Gazelle singing with Clawhauser. Many requests came for her to sing again, but she only agreed to a few. Bogo noticed that she seemed more inclined to sing when Clawhauser chimed in to support the request, and especially when he joined her in singing. If their hostess was not giving an encore she was usually talking with some of the ZPD officers, and once or twice with Bogo himself, but she always seemed to find her way back to Clawhauser. The chief found it quite interesting to see the dynamic between his most constant precinct desk officer and Zootopia's most popular pop star. While Gazelle flirted with Clawhauser a little, and Clawhauser in turn appeared duly nervous around her, the interaction was decidedly friendly. The two of them seemed to be genuinely enjoying one another's company and primarily devoted themselves to one-on-one conversation.

Looking over at his newest and smallest officers now and then Bogo noted similar behavior in them. At times Hopps talked with some of the backstage security guards while Wilde spoke with some of the various business animals responsible for Gazelle's representative record company. Much of the time, however, they were talking with each other and seemed content to continue doing so. Bogo was pleased they were getting along and working well together, but he was beginning to grow concerned that they were getting too familiar. Judy constantly leaning into Nick to give a friendly bump was a little _too_ friendly in Bogo's eyes. He did not want to make a scene, but he decided some intervention was necessary.

Walking over to the pair of officers he addressed them.

"Hopps, Wilde. Enjoying yourselves?"

Hopps looked up smiling.

"This is great Chief… Chief… I feel like I should be calling you by your name here, but saying Bogo feels wrong somehow."

"Just stick with 'Chief', Hopps."

"Carrots, trying to get familiar with the brass. How very political of you." Wilde teased. Hopps elbowed him in the stomach, but seemed to lean into him as well. They were touching closely enough that she was under Wilde's muzzle and practically spooning. Bogo stiffened slightly as Hopps righted herself.

"I haven't seen the two of you mingling much. Surely we can all try to engage with our hosts a little more closely."

"Oh we thought Ben and Gazelle wanted a little more one-on-one." Hopps replied. "I've been talking with the security detail. Did you know two of them were at the academy about ten years back? And one of the younger guards said she wants to enroll in the next class. She was even asking me for a recommendation."

Wilde looked up at Bogo and chimed in as well. "I was talking with the suits over by the bar. That black panther, Cita, he's one of the chief executives of the company that represents Gazelle's label. A pretty cool cat, Chief. You oughtta talk to him."

Bogo nodded after spotting the black cat in the suit.

"Glad to see you're both making the rounds. Carry on."

"Oh, Chief. I hope you didn't think we were being unkind leaving Gazelle and Ben earlier." Hopps offered. "He's just such a big fan, and we didn't want him to leave without at least speaking to her. And he seemed to have gotten comfortable enough we thought we should just let it be."

Bogo gave a nod. "I know Hopps. Seems like it's been good for him. They've been talking almost the whole evening. I think I'll get myself another drink. As you were."

Bogo excused himself and went to mingle a little more about the room. He was slightly mollified regarding the interaction between Hopps and Wilde, but their earlier behavior still weighed on his mind. For now though he intended to just back off and watch whether his interjection had any effect, or if the two of them continued to be 'too-friendly'. Besides, if there were any more problems, the precinct on Monday would be a better place to deal with them than here.

* * *

Over where Gazelle sat with her constant companion, Ben was going through the story of how he set many of the academy running records before a job-related injury forced him to a desk. While on the mend, some of his bad eating habits began to affect his physicality. In his younger years he had mostly eaten whatever he wanted, and then run it all off. He actually had better stamina than most of his species, and he of course had speed. However, without his mobility those calories had built up into a lot of stored fat and left him grossly out of shape. Thus had Ben stayed working the desk for the last few years. When Gazelle asked if he ever thought of going out and doing patrol again he admitted a part of him wanted to, but felt unsure if he could measure up.

"I just don't think I can match the guys out there now. I mean I look at Judy, and I can't measure up to that. Plus I doubt I'd ever be like I used to be." He said to her. "I was so much… well _less_ , back then than I am now." He said as he patted his stomach. "I've mostly just given up thinking about it."

She scooted closer as she spoke. "You seem like you miss it Ben."

"I do some days.' He admitted. "Sometimes Judy will tell me about her day after hours when she's still hanging at the front desk. I think back to when I was on the beat like her and how I used to be able to run down any perp. I busted quite a few. Now I can barely run up the stairs to stop someone barging into the Chief's office. I look down at my hind claws at times, and I remember how I used just taper all the way. Now… well I can barely see my hind claws." He looked down at himself and his expression turned melancholy.

"I think you could get some of that back, Ben. Maybe you won't be as fast, but I think it would help you to try."

"The Chief isn't going to waste time on me doing that." He said. Gazelle covered her mouth in surprise, and Ben realized he may have misconstrued the point he was trying to make about his superior.

"Oh, no I don't mean that he wouldn't care. He and I work well together and he's a good boss. He'd just prefer having an officer he knows and depends on at the front. I don't think he'd want to send a good desk officer to the beat and have to train up someone else to handle the front. Especially a desk officer that's as out of shape as I am."

Gazelle nodded and began playing with the shield stitched into Ben's shoulder.

"If you want to be something else, you should let him know. I am sure he would let you do it if you prove you can handle the work. Maybe you could get back to training for a few months and then you would ease right back into it."

Ben lapsed into thought and Gazelle spoke to some of the other nearby party goers who wanted to talk to her. Even as she spoke to others nearby she kept her hoof on Ben's shoulder and it made him feel comforted.

* * *

"What do you think the Chief wanted?" Nick asked. Judy looked at him with a confused expression.

"To make sure we were interacting. We solved the case all those months ago, and a lot of this party was touted as being in recognition of our work. I'm sure the Chief just wanted to make sure we were showing gratitude."

Nick looked askance at the Chief, who was standing at the bar with Mr. Cita.

"Carrots, I don't think that greeting was just to get us to mingle. He had a look like he saw something he didn't like when he got near us. Especially when I pushed against your back."

"Relax Nick. If he had really been upset, he would have spoken with fewer words and ordered us around more." Judy took another sip of her drink and squeezed her eyes. "I should have gone with a virgin. My glass is still half-full and I already feel a bit dizzy."

Nick chuckled and reached for her glass. She twisted away. Nick sighed.

"Carrots, you just said you were feeling dizzy."

"I'm a big bunny now. I can handle it." She said defensively. Nick shook his head.

"Well now you're buzzed and being silly, so someone's gotta watch you to make sure it doesn't get any worse."

"Well you're my partner. Isn't that a big part of your job? Have my back?" She teased.

Nick sighed again, put his arm around the little rabbit and led her to a couch to sit down. A nearby water buffalo saw it all and was not pleased.

* * *

Later, as the party wound down and the room began to lose some of the guests, Bogo decided to call it a night. He had conversed with Mr. Cita, as well as several of the background dancers. He noted that most of these fellows were muscular enough they could have put on ZPD uniforms and fit right in among his predominantly predatory contingent. One of the dancers, he learned, had actually been a volunteer firefighter before going into the music business. That had been an interesting side story.

Now, having heard almost an hour of stories about a naive young Gazellina trying to break into the Zootopia pop scene as 'Gazelle', he decided he had been entertained and regaled enough for one night. Though he found the stories intriguing, he knew he needed to get home to his family. Setting his empty glass on the bar, Bogo thanked the dancers and Mr. Cita again and said he needed to be getting home. The panther shook his hoof and thanked Bogo for coming.

As Bogo made for the exit he espied Clawhauser with 'Gazellina', still sitting together and talking. Though other animals were part of the little circle that always seemed to surround the pop icon, the talking was primarily between the hostess and the cheetah. Bogo realized he had been remiss and turned to walk back to Gazelle and thank her for a great evening.

Despite his weak eyesight, Bogo spotted a red individual on the other side of the room who could only be his sole fox officer. Hopps was nearly draped over Wilde's shoulder and looked pretty drowsy. The fox officer was walking her slowly towards Bogo and the door. Stopping a moment near Clawhauser and Gazelle, Bogo saw them bid the seated pair farewell and then resume their walk in his direction. Though Bogo could see that Hopps was tired, he did not altogether approve of how she seemed to cuddle up against Wilde. The water buffalo kept his gaze on the two as they approached, looking to see how much more they would push boundaries. Wilde gave a lackadaisical salute as he drew up in front of the Chief.

"Good night Chief. I'm going to get the Hero of Zootopia back to her place while she's still conscious."

Hopps looked up and covered her mouth with a yawn.

" 'Been a great party Chief. Mm' I remember now why I don't usually drink… this stuff puts me right on my tail. I only had one drink and halfway through I started yawning." As if to emphasize her exhaustion she yawned again.

Bogo furrowed his brow and pursed his lips, fighting the yawn she was making him feel.

"And you, Wilde? Feeling well enough I hope?"

Wilde looked up again and nodded.

"Yeah Chief, I'm fine. I'm just gonna drop this drowsy bunny at her place and then go home myself. This was fun. We should all do this more often."

Bogo scrunched up his lips and gave a tight nod.

"Carry on, Wilde."

Wilde made his way passed Bogo and out of the room, holding Hopps close to him. She leaned into his waist and help his hip. As Bogo watched the pair leave he became resolved over what to do. He did not like this part of his job; it involved getting into the personal matters of his officers, and he hated embroiling himself in their private affairs. Nonetheless, he was sure Hopps and Wilde were edging toward dangerous behavior, and he had to head off this impending disaster before it progressed any further. For now he knew he had to let things lie. He could not haphazardly punish officers based on suspicions. Truth be told, he believed that Wilde would do just what he said: get Hopps home and then go home himself… this time.

Monday… that was when things were going to be dealt with seriously.

Before heading out, Bogo went to give his thanks to the hostess. After exchanging some kind words of gratitude and sincere wishes to see each other again, Clawhauser stood as if to speak. When Bogo shifted his gaze, the cheetah seemed to become tongue-tied and had several false starts. Clawhauser looked to Gazelle who prodded him lightly. Turning back, Clawhauser spoke at last.

"Chief I want to return to active patrol duty. I have a plan for how I'm going to get there, and I want you to consider it seriously. I'll have a complete work up ready to show you on Monday."

Bogo lifted his eyebrows.

"It's been a few years Clawhauser. Are you sure about that?"

"Like I said, Chief. Let me show you the work up on Monday and keep an open mind about this."

Bogo gave a nod to his subordinate, a final goodbye to the hostess, turned, and left.

Leaving the stadium among several other late night party goers, Bogo's mind started kicking around all the things coming his way.

 _Monday: preliminary department budget reports, another report from Far End, warning Hopps and Wilde to keep it professional, and now Clawhauser wanting to go back on the beat… what a day that's going to be_.

Bogo grimaced and walked on.

* * *

 _And so begins the first story._

 _This first chapter, of quite a few still to come, was originally meant to be a one-shot, but I decided a little more was needed to set the scene before I really get into the stories I originally conceived. This first tale deals with how a few incidents of apparent flirting at the Celebrate Zootopia Concert leads to some rather serious issues in Zootopia Precinct One, both for the primary characters in the movie and some of the ancillary players. While Judy and Nick will be prime instigators for what happens, they are still just a means to an end. The collective stories about their colleagues are the more important force to drive the action._

 _Before anyone starts reading between the lines unnecessarily, let me restate that this is not a romance. I already promised you there will be romantic elements, but the point of this story is what goes on in this world and the allegories we can use from it to examine our own._

 _I am sorry to say that my stories come slowly, especially with all I have going on at my work these days, but I hope to update again soon. I also hope that you enjoyed this first little dip into my Zootopian-derived world._

 _Any comments, critiques or questions are welcome, and I hope you come back for more soon._


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello and thank you to those that have begun to review._ _This next stage of the story picks up on Monday where Bogo arrives at work with his plate already full to overflowing as he must address the issues he saw between Hopps and Wilde at the concert, as well as Clawhauser's petition to return to field work and get back on the beat._

 _I said that this story would not call too much attention to either Judy or Nick, but would instead focus on other ancillary characters. A few of those will be brought to the fore in this chapter, and greater depth given to them as the story progresses. Surprisingly, I really started getting into the details of one of them even as I wrote the story._

 _Repeat of Disclaimer: I own none of this. I write that others may take my words and expand their view of the world._

* * *

Chief Bogo arrived at Precinct One Station a full hour ahead of the regular officers. The night shift was still on duty and would remain so for another hour until the day shift officers arrived to relieve them.

The majority of officers now on duty included Geraldine Maddox. She was a giraffe and due to her size, and the difficulty she had in accessing many buildings throughout Zootopia, she had served as a desk officer. She had a slightly acerbic personality, but Bogo assumed that that was mostly because, like others of her species, she slept in increments of a few minutes many times a day. Due to her sleeping pattern she was a perfect fit for work on the night shift when the majority of officers were biologically tuned to turn in. Bogo nodded her way as he came in the atrium, passing by her desk on his way to the office. Maddox returned the nod and resumed her ministrations at the front. As he ascended the stairs behind her, Bogo could see a paper that he thought read Nocturnal District. He could only just make out the words due to the magnifying glass that Maddox had in place on her desk so that she could read papers and computer displays on the desk despite her eyes being so far away.  
Bogo thought it remarkable at times that Maddox could make sense of words so far from her face. The equivalent for Bogo would be reading papers that never got above the floor, and his eyesight was weak enough without that added problem.

Bogo reached the top of the stairs and thought it was good he had kept Maddox as a desk officer. She was a very capable administrator, and her little solutions to the issues of how to read papers far from her face, or how she used her natural tendency to take micro-naps in order to keep herself relatively fresh and alert throughout the night shift, gave Bogo confidence that he was leaving the right animal for the job at that front desk whenever he went home.

Arriving in his office, Bogo picked up his agenda and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

An hour later, Bogo left his office, having met with other higher ups about budgetary matters that left him quite bored. He only made it through based on the knowledge that it was all essential to keep the department operating, both at the level of administration and on the street.

What was to come next after the morning meeting in the bullpen left Bogo with a sour taste in his mouth. It was one of those things that only the Chief could attend to, and being Chief meant being able to make hard decisions and enforce rules whether or not others agreed. He was resolved to speak to Hopps about the incident on Friday. He had come to the conclusion that his young rabbit officer had been acting borderline unprofessional at the concert where he had last seen her. She needed to be reminded of proper decorum and professional bearing when representing the uniform, even if she had not been wearing it. Wilde he would have to watch as well, but the fox was new to the unit and Bogo was still getting a feel for him. Hopps was the senior of the two and needed to set the example.

Bogo marched from his office to the stairs and made his way to the bullpen. The officer at the front was now his later morning appointee: Clawhauser. The portly cheetah waved to Chief and Bogo acknowledged Clawhauser with a nod. The other officers had arrived and were getting into their seats.  
As he approached the door, scrapping his hooves against the floor in his customary manner to give Officer Perkins a warning, he reached for the handle. As he turned it there came the call.

 _Attention on deck!_

Officer Perkins' announcement was followed but a raucous hustle as all the officers got off the chairs and stood at attention. Opening the door and stepping through, Bogo was, as per the usual, greeted by his officers through pounding of the desks and a rousing chant. There were days when Bogo came in and felt as if he were the coach of high school sports team coming into a locker room where his players were psyching themselves up before heading out to the big game. He reached the podium before he acknowledged the noise.

"All right, that's enough. _Settle_." He thundered and everyone went quiet.

He set his glasses to his nose and set his eyes to his clipboard.

"First of all we need to address the wolf in the fold. Woldford…", and the contingent turned to the wolf officer. "Happy birthday."

A cheer went up and many of the officers nearest Wolford gave him some good natured slugs to shoulder. He chuckled and hit back.

"Bring it back down. _Bring it back down_." Bogo called, and everyone settled. "Now, top priority for the day. There were a few complaints about hooligans after the Celebrate Zootopia Concert at the end of last week. As a result of the delinquent behavior there were also a few issues of vandalism in several districts that require follow up investigation. Several stores in Downtown reported damages to property and we need to canvas the neighborhoods and assess the state of affairs. Delgato, Fangmeyer and Grizzoli, your job for the day: Downtown to Midtown sections. I have your list of addresses that need particular attention."

The three predators came forward. Fangmeyer, who was in the front row, got to the file first. Delgato was standing right behind her and made an audible purring sound when he stared down at her tail as it twisted back and forth. Bogo's whipped his eyes on Delgato in a fierce gaze that made the lion officer clam up.

As the three officers left, Bogo went down the list. "The rest of you have your regular assignments and I want a report on any damages spotted in your areas. McHorn you'll take the Sahara and Francine you'll… actually Francine why don't you take Sahara and McHorn you cover the border with the Savanna."

As the two largest members of the unit took their folders and left, McHorn gave a playful snort.

"Hope you don't get heat stroke out there Frannie. Hate to see that derriere get dehydrated."

Francine rolled her eyes and shot the rhino a look of annoyance as they both left the room.

The chief continued with assigning the remaining officers to Tundra Town, the Rainforest, Meadowlands, Canals, even one assignment that needed to head to Outback Island and coordinate with the group there. At last he was left with his smallest pair of officers.

"Hopps and Wilde, I want you both on the Savanna Central Station area. Keep a watch on Little Rodentia in particular and as before, look for damages."

As Hopps reached for the folder, Bogo held on lightly to make it hard enough to take that Hopps looked straight at him.

"Hopps, hang back a minute I'd like a word in private before you head out."

The rabbit officer passed the folder to Wilde and told him to head on out and that she would follow soon after. She stood near the podium and Bogo looked down at her after he finished putting his glasses away. He waited to begin speaking until the door closed behind the departing fox officer.

"Right. Well first, how is your new partner working out?"

"Nick?" she asked in genuine surprise. "Nick is doing great. Us partnering together I think worked out wonderfully, we're getting a lot of work done."

"Yes I'm sure, but I'm asking about the personal dynamic."

" _Personal_ … I'm not sure I get what you mean chief. We're getting along fine. Was there some suggestion that we weren't."

Bogo sighed.

"Hopps, I rarely match up partners of the opposite gender. I make exceptions in circumstances where other personnel of the same gender would not suffice due to environmental incompatibility. In the case of you and Wilde, partnering you two is essential due to your sizes. Aside from the matter of gender, there is the issue that you have a personal attachment to Wilde. If that attachment isn't affecting your decisions in the field then I don't much care that it exists. However, among partners the department _expressly_ forbids fraternization."

Judy took a step back. "Chief, Nick and I are best friends but we aren't…"

"I don't suggest that you are. In fact I'm almost sure you're not. What I'm concerned about is that you're headed in that direction. You need to watch yourself Hopps. You and Wilde are good cops and a good team. I don't want excellence to suffer from lack of professional decorum."

"Chief, where did this come from? Have we done something wrong?"

"Friday night at the concert after party, I noticed you and Wilde remained close to each other most of the evening. Spending time together is not an issue, but the two of you were in physical proximity to such a degree it was bordering on inappropriate. And whether or not you're aware of it, I saw what I can only call 'flirtatious overtures' between you and Wilde."

Judy's eyes went wide. _Flirtatious overtures_.

"Chief I never flirt with colleagues. I am always professional…"

"Constant, high degrees of physical proximity: shoulder bumping at first, then instances of full body bumping. I came over to speak to the both of you and saw you lean yourself back into Wilde when he teased you about something. Such contact is inappropriate among workplace partners, and though we were after hours and you were not in uniform, you were there as a _representative_ of the department, and Wilde is _still_ your partner. Whether or not Wilde picked up on or reciprocated is irrelevant, _you_ are the senior officer and need to be careful of this in the future."

Judy was stunned. The chief thought she was being inappropriate? She began to grow nervous.

Bogo could see the nervous look on the rabbit officer's face and brought up a hoof as an assurance to be at ease. "Hopps this isn't a threat, a reprimand or a warning. This conversation never officially occurred and will never leave this room. I am telling you what I saw and making sure you understand that it goes no further. I don't want to deal with reprimands or reassignments, but if you do not curtail those tendencies, it may come to that."

She regained her composure and straightened to show that she would not allow this misunderstanding to negatively affect her.

"Yes Chief. It won't happen again."

He gave a tight smile and a slight tilt of the head. "Well then there's no problem and nothing more to say. That'll be all Officer Hopps. Dismissed."

Hopps saluted, turned and left. She had originally been walking out with a broad smile and looking forward to another day on patrol. Now she left with a chastened air about her and a slump in her shoulders and ears. Bogo sighed as he watched her leave. While her chipper attitude could at times wear on his nerves, he genuinely liked his smallest officer and did not want to see her so down. He drew some comfort from the knowledge that he had only given her some important warnings without actually having to administer discipline. Hopefully he had also headed off any disastrous affiliation between her and Wilde that might compromise their effectiveness.

On the other side of the door, an entirely different outcome was taking place for his young officer.

* * *

As Judy entered the precinct atrium she came upon Nick, who was at the front desk talking with Ben.

"The fastest? Really?" Nick said incredulously.

"I'm serious. I set records for sprints in every micro-climate in the Zootopian obstacle course and they held for over five years." Ben replied.

"Given who stands before me now I hope you forgive my skepticism." Nick grinned.

Ben blushed, but had an understanding smile. "I got a back injury after my first year on patrol and they put me on desk duty for a few months. That's when I started to put on weight; I wasn't burning off all the food I was eating. Then the idea of going back out there just terrified me, and I figured I'd look like such a joke compared to what I used to be. So when an opening for a permanent desk officer became available I took it."

"So why this interest in getting back out there? I thought you were feeling good about staying at this post."

"Most days I am, but I think about what I used to be capable of and what's become of me since. I just wanna get some of that back."

Nick smiled slyly.

"Would a certain female of the musical-persuasion have anything to do with this idea of yours?" Nick asked.

Judy picked up on Nick's charming, teasing voice and looked sideways at him with a smile. If she had been listening to the exchange more closely she might have given the sly glance to Ben, but now she was still mostly lost in thought. She realized that whenever Nick made a comment in that tone of voice she naturally felt comfortable smiling at him with a sideways glance. Ben blushed and Nick tried to put his friend at ease before any feelings got hurt.

"Ben, I support you wanting to do this, I know Carrots certainly will too, but I don't think you'll be able to get back to that level of fitness again."

Ben gave a conciliatory nod. "Well I doubt I'll be setting any more records, but I could still get back in shape and be able to go on patrol again… you know, do what I originally came here to do. It would be nice to at least have that option again."

"Well we'd help you make that happen, right Carrots."

Looking at Judy, Nick noticed she was looking at her feet. She seemed deep in thought, but the slump in her ears made her look a little sad.

"Carrots? You okay?" He asked.

She snapped awake at hearing the nickname that she never liked, but somehow tolerated from him.

"Huh? Sorry, what was that?" She asked.

"I was telling Ben we'd help him get back into shape so he can get back to patrol."

The idea of helping a friend got Judy to perk up straight away.

"Of course. Ben, do you have a plan for that?"

Ben brightened anew and presented a two page sheet to Judy. It included an opening statement where Ben waxed poetically about the need for a police officer to be able to work the beat and serve his community as an enforcer of law and order, and suggesting that for younger officers, the role of Desk Officer should be a temporary stint and not a permanent arrangement.  
The rest of the document included a workout schedule for the next three months that would get Ben in shape and in satisfaction of departmental requirements.

Judy looked it over twice and handed it back to Ben. "It looks great... by the way I liked the added part about an officer needing to serve the community as an enforcer."

"Yeah I wanted to make sure he saw that. My night shift counterpart Geraldine wanted to go on the beat about a year back, but Bogo insisted her role was here at the precinct and he refused the request. I figure perspective is important so I can make headway where she didn't." Ben explained.

"Well I think if that's your pitch it should go well. Just be ready in case he tries to talk you down. You know, fight for basics, but make sure you give him some wiggle room to negotiate." Nick suggested.

"Ben shouldn't need to negotiate down from any of that. It's perfectly reasonable." Judy disputed, then turned to Ben. "What went wrong with Geraldine's request?"

"She said Bogo pointed out how she gets chatty around midnight and thought she might disturb the neighborhoods if she went out on patrol when others are sleeping. Not sure if he used the word 'chatty' but it is true she gets vocal at night. I came in here once when I thought I had forgotten some important paperwork, and she was just humming here at the desk... it was kinda spooky."

Judy felt a little annoyed by this. While it was true giraffes would start humming to one another late at night, that did not by itself make someone chatty, and just because it was natural did not mean Geraldine could not contain herself for the sake of work. For that matter a mild hum from a passing officer might even dissuade some crimes from taking place if she were at the right place at the right time... it seemed quite unfair for her to be refused the chance based on a preconception.  
Still, after what had happened in the bullpen this morning Judy grew brooding instead of vocally outraged. Meanwhile, Nick persisted.

"Ben, if you leave Bogo with only yes or no then it kills his chance to think or contribute. And if he just up and says 'no' then it's settled and he probably won't revisit it again. I bet Geraldine didn't negotiate anything out of that meeting with Bogo, did she?"

Ben looked down and shook his head. "No."

"So stick to your guns, insist you feel this is a good course of action, throw the Chief a few questions so he feels like he's in control of the process instead of just the final decision, and then make sure that if nothing else you end the meeting with a foot in the door so he knows you are going to persist until this happens. That way he might decide to just okay it now so he doesn't need to keep hearing more proposals."

Ben continued to nod, liking Nick's approach more and more.  
"Okay, well I'm meeting the Chief in five minutes. I'll do what you said Nick, I think that'll help."

Nick gave Ben a salute with the first two digits on his fore paw and started walking towards the atrium door with Judy at his side. They were on foot today as they did patrol. Canvasing was easier to manage if they did not need to keep parking on all the streets they had to visit. Plus there were few parking areas around the station or Little Rodentia, so it was best that they did not obstruct traffic. Nick donned his aviators, though the sky was dotted with several clouds, and the sun a little less intrusive on sensitive eyes.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking down the street, Nick at last broke the silence.  
"I hope that meeting with the Chief goes well for Ben."  
When Judy did not reply he turned to look at her. She was busy scanning the street, but she seemed less vigilant. Normally she had enough attentive power to scan her surroundings and respond to Nick at the same time. If she were silent, something was up.

"Hopps… Hopps. Hello? Earth to Hopps!" He said.

"Huh?... Wha? Oh, sorry, what's up?" She said once she registered Nick speaking to her.

"Well I was saying I hope Ben's meeting with the Chief goes well, but when you were silent I asked what's wrong. You've been zoning out and unresponsive quite a bit this morning. What's the deal? You were bright eyed and fluffy-tailed when we got into the precinct earlier. What happened in the bullpen after I left?"

Judy pouted for a moment, not sure why she was still upset, or rather, not knowing if she should be dragging Nick into the problem. The Chief had squarely put the blame and responsibility to shape-up on her after all.

"It's nothing Nick." She said dismissively. "I'm just thinking about something. I"m okay."

Nick did not buy that for a second.

"Carrots, I'm your partner and your best friend. If you can't trust me with a small work or personal issue, how are you going to trust me with everything else you depend on me for?"

Just then Nick stopped at the crosswalk as the figure in the sign across the street turned red. Judy was not paying attention and began to step into the road as the cars began to release their brakes. Nick shot out and arm to grab her before she could walk into the traffic. Upon realizing what almost happened, Judy shook herself fiercely. Nick clicked his tongue.

"And now you almost walked into traffic, Carrots. That does not smack of 'nothing' or 'okay' to me. What's going on?"

"I told you, I'm just thinking about something. And about earlier, who said anything about a personal issue? I just stayed back a minute to talk the Chief and now I'm thinking about something."

"It's worrying that we're on patrol when we need to be alert for things, and you almost walk into traffic. You'd be grilling me fiercely if I had done that."

"It's my problem, Nick. I can deal with it." She replied curtly.

Nick knew from a great deal of experience when the time came to keep quiet and not press his luck. For whatever reason, Judy was clearly not of a mind to talk at this point, so the best thing he could do was turn his head forward and wait at the crosswalk with her.

* * *

"Thinking of telling me now?" Nick asked as he and Judy left the last one of the addresses that had been given in the meeting.

The store owner had had a front window smashed after a few concert attendees had come out, wandered the streets, apparently inebriated, and then thought that a store that sold only protein-based predator food was not in keeping with the inclusive ways of Zootopia that Gazelle espoused.  
Nick and Judy had written up the incident report, had taken statements from a few witnesses, and would at least give the store owner the ability to use the report for insurance claims, though without photographs of the perpetrators there was little they could do to find out who was responsible.

Judy had collected herself after the morning and now seemed more alert and in the present. She proceeded to explain to Nick what happened as they strode down he street.  
"And then he said that since he had gotten the message across, there was nothing more that needed to be said about it." She concluded.

Nick was stunned. He remembered the action being _him_ bumping _her_ back with his chest. If that was the inappropriate contact that got Bogo so upset, then _he_ was the one responsible.

"That's bull! And to come down on you without telling me to shape up as well... where does he get off?"

"Nick, please don't make a big deal out of it. He's the chief, he did what he felt needed to be done. I'm not in trouble, I wasn't cautioned, he just said what he saw…"

"And he's wrong. Not that I want him coming down on me, but that's unfair. Carrots I'm amazed you aren't more upset about this?"

She stopped walking and her expression became one of intense fuming. Seeing her like this, Nick grew slightly nervous she would let him taste the wrath that was steadily building in her.

"Nick, I am _very_ upset. I've thought through a hundred things I could do this whole day, but it all comes down to me making things worse if I try. If I make a scene, it becomes an issue, and then the news gets passed around the department that I was being unprofessional. And making a big deal of it will probably create additional problems between me and some of the other officers, and… I don't want to make it worse. It was nothing. Bogo isn't going to do anything, he just wants more cautious behavior. I can do that. Let's just get back to work."

Judy had a great deal on her mind as she resumed the march. She felt torn between what she saw as justice, and what she saw of the world. Bogo could certainly argue that she and Nick had been acting inappropriately; thought indeed there was more to it than what he saw. If he did not feel the need to press the matter, was it really in her interest to press back?

Judy had not yet come up with a plan for how to address the issue at hand, but her thoughts were churning and new ideas were swirling around in her mind.

"Well, no sense being upset on an empty stomach." Nick interjected. "Come on, I know a great food stand a few blocks from here. The guy sells everything any Zootopian could want... and a few Pawpsicles as well."

Judy looked askance at Nick, wanting to ask if this 'guy' were someone she knew formerly as a partner in hustling to a friend of hers. Before she could ask however, Nick was leading the way, so she just followed and waited to see.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, after a long but productive day of getting information regarding vandalism complaints around the station and Little Rodentia, having a nice walking-lunch from a street vendor, and continuing their survey of the beat, Nick and Judy returned to the precinct to check in before heading back out for the regular patrol. Inside the front door they saw Ben sitting at his desk, but half sprawled out on his workstation and looking exhausted. Judy and Nick both ran to him.

"Ben, are you all right? You look terrible?" Judy asked.

"Oh I feel fine..." Ben slurred, then winced. "Ow, jaw still hurts."

Nick looked at Ben quizzically. "So... how did your meeting with the Chief go?"

Judy gasped. "Did he say no? Did you go on sugar bender like when you found out you were being sent to Archives last year?"

Ben laughed with a wheeze. "I took Nick's advice... and five minutes into the meeting, the Chief tells me to go get into some gym wear and start out in the exercise room... and I asked 'why, I thought we were just discussing it at this point.' ... and he said 'And I see that on Mondays you'll run three miles and do calisthenics. Well, if that's how it's going to be, then go get Perkins and put him at the front. I want my three miles, and you're going to run 'em now.'"

Judy brightened. "Ben that's great!... so why do you look so tired, that was nearly six hours ago."

"Oh the run went okay. I was a bit slow, but I finished, and I actually got back to breathing normally again after another hour..." Nick bit back a chuckle. "...Then the Chief came back about two hours ago and said he wanted to see me do it again. I nearly collapsed after the first mile, but I made it through the whole thing... and he said he expects me to do everything I wrote in the proposal, and no backsliding... said he's going to be watching me every step of the way and demanding the best."

"Well way to go there champ." Nick said and patted Ben's shoulder. "Now all that's left is for you to do it."

Ben winced. "Nick, you know I'm a sprinter kind of cheetah. Distance isn't my thing."

"No pain, no gain, Ben." The fox officer replied.

Judy jumped in, excited to see a glimmer of progress among the animals she worked with. "Hey if you ever want some exercise partners, call us immediately."

"Right now, I just want to sit here and wait for the shift to end, then go home and sleep."

"No food binges, and only healthy meals. The Chief wants no backsliding, so don't let that happen." Judy admonished as she and Nick began heading for the offices to hand in their reports.

* * *

As the two diminutive officers passed the front desk, Geraldine Maddox entered through the atrium doors and approached the desk. She raised an eyebrow to see her day-time counterpart slouched over the desk.

"Ben, I came to make sure that new ergonomic chair I requested arrived... I see it hasn't, so I guess I'll have to bring my own from home tonight. What's with the slouching? Surely sitting here all day can't be that exhausting." Like herself, Maddox's greetings had a slightly acerbic edge, but came off with enough good nature to remind Ben that she was just being herself. Ben chuckled and winced as he sat upright.

"Hi Geraldine. I was just recovering from the run I just... no I guess both of them, not sure I completely got over the pain of the first one yet."

"Run? When did you have time to run while you were working the desk?" She asked.

"I asked the Chief for a chance to get back in shape to go out on patrol again. He agreed, but it looks like he's going to be pretty merciless about the return to fitness part of this whole thing."

Geraldine staggered back. "How did you get him to do that? I asked him a while back and he flat out said I should stay at my desk, and then when I asked him again later he just started saying 'some other time'. And why did he agree to let you do it in your condition? I'm in better shape than you."

Ben waved a paw to encourage less noise. "Just talk to Nick Wilde. He gave me some good tips on how to talk it over with the Chief. Then it came together. Maybe he has some advice."

As he said this, Nick came out through the office doors and stretched his arms over his head. Maddox strode right over to him.

"You're Nick Wilde." Her tone conveyed more statement than question. Surprised to find his momentary quiet shattered, Nick looked up at the giraffe officer and nodded. "I hear you got Ben Clawhauser a way out of permanent desk duty so he could get back to patrol."

"Oh." Nick blinked. He breathed a sigh of relief to find that this was about helping Ben and not some issue carried over from his days before becoming a police officer. Since giving up being a Pawpsicle hustler, a few animals had come to him with some complaints and addressed him about these past matters. Thankfully, this did not appear to be one of those moments.

"Well he came up with the idea and a plan for how to make it happen. I just gave him some pointers on how to negotiate with the Chief so he could get the best deal." Nick explained.

"Well then you and I need to have a talk, because that's exactly what I need." Geraldine replied and escorted him to one of the benches at the other end of the atrium.

* * *

About five minutes later, Chief Bogo was making his way down the stairs. Geraldine and Nick looked to him and then to each other before sharing a nod. Geraldine stood up and strode over to the Chief.

"Good afternoon Chief."

Bogo looked up. "Officer Maddox. You're here a bit early. Your shift doesn't start for another four or five hours."

"I was checking to see if my new chair had come in, but I also wanted to discuss something important with you. It would only take a couple of minutes."

"All right, I'm heading to get some coffee, would just outside the precinct door be an okay place to discuss it or shall we take it to my office?"

"Outside is fine." Geraldine would rather discuss it in the office, or here inside the precinct where Bogo would have to treat the issue and make decisions in a more official light. Outside would likely give Bogo a sense of mental disconnect from the workplace that she rather he not have when discussing this matter. However, Geraldine's height made walking up to and sitting in Bogo's office a difficult endeavor. She had to take a potentially less favorable battleground for the discussion, but one where she could at least deliver her spiel without needing to bend her neck and come off looking ridiculous.

Nick watched Bogo head to the break room, grab a cup of coffee, then walk outside with Geraldine. While this played out, Judy came out of the office herself and approached Nick.

"You would not believe what is going on back there. A bunch of the officers from Downtown are back there; apparently they divided up the places they were supposed to canvas, and Fangmeyer finished first, so Delgato was saying she must be 'really workin' that tail'... what's going on?" She asked.

"Geraldine was in about a chair or something, now she's talking to Bogo about getting back on duty like Clawhauser. I just gave her some of the same tips."

"Oh, good deal. I have to wonder, what happens when all of the desk officers stop working at the desk. Who will the citizens call, and who are we going to report to in emergencies?"

"Well the Chief must have stand ins for when Ben or Geraldine call in sick, maybe he'll make those other guys permanent. Or maybe he'll go with Ben's idea and make it like a rotating job. Maybe McHorn will end up at the desk for a week or two. That's something I'd like to see: that guy trying to deal with citizen complaints all day." Nick snickered and Judy had to hold in a chuckle as well. She and McHorn were not always on the best of terms, and truth be told he was a good officer and a relatively decent animal. He just came across a bit arrogant at times.

The two of them watched the scene outside unfold for a few minutes, and then Judy took a look at the time on her phone. "We should probably be getting back to our patrol." She said.

Nick hopped off the bench and followed her to the doors. As they went through, Bogo came back inside with Geraldine was following him.

"But that isn't fair." She said.

"Maddox, I can't just up and reconfigure the whole roster every time someone has a request about job assignments. I have enough on my plate as it is and I need a good desk officer, particularly on the night shift." Bogo replied.

"But I asked you about this transfer a year ago and you said you would think about it. And I brought it up again last month and again you put it off... but Clawhauser brings it up once and the same day he's already being streamlined for the position?"

"Maddox, Clawhauser came to me with a written proposal, he works the day shift where I could use more officers on the street and have alternative officers to staff the front, and he has prior records of good work in the field. That is why I approved his request."

"I can't _get_ records of field work if I don't _have_ field work, Chief."

"Maddox, we'll discuss this another time. I have a meeting with the Deputy Chief of Outback Island. She's taken time out of a similarly busy schedule and I've left her in the main meeting room for over fifteen minutes. Some other time."

Bogo ascended the stairs to his office, and Maddox stood at the bottom, looking forlorn. Ben watched this unfold and came out from behind his desk and approached Geraldine to comfort her. Hearing his approach she jerked away.

"Don't... just don't." She gritted out with a strained voice that sounded like she was close to sobbing. Ben backed off and returned to his chair.

Judy and Nick had watched the entire affair unfold as well. The rabbit officer had forgotten entirely about the business of getting back to patrol and stood there watching this officer have her simple request shot down. In the year since Judy had joined the ZPD she had seen Officer Maddox a few times and spoken to her on only two occasions. Geraldine was hard-working, resourceful, a bit brusque but not to the point of being off-putting. Judy knew Geraldine was very fit, she ran to and from the office from Riverside at the southern edge of Savanna Central and Sahara Square every day. That such an officer would not be given the opportunity to do what she wanted really rattled Judy to her core.

After what she had seen of Bogo's behavior, and the behavior of the department towards her fellow female officers, she became resolved of something herself.

"Nick," she said. "I have some things to take care of. Can you handle the rest of the beat by yourself until I meet up with you in a bit?"

Nick turned to look at her. "Uh, yeah it seems routine, but what are you doing now that can't wait until we're done?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow. See you out on the beat in a little while." With that, Judy marched over to Geraldine and hopped up to grab her by the tall officer's fore hoof. When she had Geraldine's attention, she asked her to follow her and the two went outside. Judy then came back and in headed for the office. Nick had stood still as he watched his partner go about her work. Judy now stopped and looked at him.

"I believe there is still a beat that needs patrolling Officer Wilde. Hop, hop!" and she continued making her way to the office. Nick, seeing that Judy was on mission and needed him to cover their assigned sector, decided to be on his way and let her be. As he walked down the street, having double-checked his belt for all of his necessary gear, Nick placed his aviators on his nose and looked back to see Judy conferring outside with Geraldine, Francine and Fangmeyer. Nick stifled a mild laugh to see such an eclectic group of female animals speaking together, but quickly turned back to the business of returning to Savanna Central near Little Rodentia and getting back to his patrol.

He was not yet sure what Judy had in mind, but if his instincts told him anything, it was going to be an attack on something she saw as unjust.

* * *

 _Now we begin to get into the story._

 _In a lot of male-dominant fields you will find chauvinistic behavior regarding gender. The behavior is not necessarily overt or openly discriminatory. It is mostly a byproduct of unequal gender representation._

 _In my own line of work, women are vastly underrepresented. My primary working group of about twenty people has only three women, and my smaller subgroup of about ten has only one woman. I would not consider myself or any of my colleagues gender insensitive, but given the general predominance of men in our circles we do tend to behave a bit like a boys club at times._

 _In Zootopia, Judy, Francine and Fangmeyer (and my own OC Geraldine Maddox) are some of the only females in the whole department. Given that imbalance, and the kind of work they do, I expect that the behavior of the group is decidedly more masculine. It may not necessarily be hostile, but the members of the ZPD are expected to fit a mold, and due to the higher representation of males that mold will tend to better accommodate your average male than your average female._

 _When Bogo talks to Judy about the issue of harassment, his efforts to stave off any liaison between her and Nick are somewhat imbalanced. In the bullpen there are several incidents of what could be construed as harassment, and the Chief does not make a big issue because it is somewhat in character of 'boys being boys'. Judy, being something of a special case to the department is easier for him to spot, so that is where he directs his attention._

 _Geraldine is another case where Bogo is being discriminatory, even he does not notice. I have not set Bogo up as the antagonist here, his behavior is merely a byproduct of his surroundings, and he does these things without necessarily being aware of them. It is that ignorance of action that is the antagonist._

 _Regarding Judy's nervousness and her backing down from making an issue in the first place I wanted her to feel trepidation about creating a fuss or starting a crusade. After what happened in the movie, she has become more aware of the impact her words have, and is slightly more measured. Nonetheless, she is Leslie Knope at heart and wants to make a change, hence her thinking about it constantly while on patrol. This will be a running theme for my version of Judy; she will still fight for what is right if she sees injustice, but she is going to be a little more cautious about what she initiates because she has seen firsthand how an issue can spiral out of control if she is indelicate about handling these matters._

 _In the coming chapters I will show a little more of the die-hard, making-it-right side of Judy; that part of her is very much still in business._

 _Please write, comment, and let me know what you think._


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello again and welcome to the next installment of Zootopia: Shake-Up. I would have put numbers on these stories if I had a plan for an upper limit on how many I would write. Right now I do not know how many will come, we are just going story by story. We could end up with five, ten, heck I could go for twenty volumes and probably still find topics to discuss... though I would rather some other authors decided to write stories in this vein as well._

 _I find it remarkable what a difference the tools used for writing can provide regarding the content produced. Most of my writing has been done on my smartphone while riding the bus to work in the mornings, or coming home at nights. Working at home on my laptop as I am writing this section really does change the flow and brings out ideas I had not thought to include._

 _Also, I want to thank Voltus and gonekrazy3000 for their reviews. I hope more of you enjoy this enough to let me know so I know that the readership are pleased with the progress made in these stories._

 _At any rate, when last I published, Judy had taken to meeting with other female officers at Precinct One and had left Nick to take care of the remainder of their work for the day. The story now picks up with Judy and her cohort at that same meeting. (Reminder of attendants: Jayashri Fangmeyer, Judy Hopps, Geraldine Maddox, Francine Paddington)._

 _Disclaimer: I own none of these characters or creations (though to the best of my knowledge I originated giraffe ZPD officer Geraldine Maddox). Zootopia belongs to Disney, the line from 'Charge of the Light Brigade' was penned by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and the Eleanor Roosevelt quote comes from the lady herself._

* * *

The three senior-most female officers at Precinct One had all converged outside the precinct building around their newest, youngest, and smallest addition to the department. Judy marveled at how a little bunny like herself could start directing the course of action for an individual as massive as Francine.

"What is it Hopps? I have a lot more work to do today, so I haven't got the time for a long break," said Fangmeyer.

"I know Jayashri, we all of have a lot of work to do, but this is important." Judy replied, the use of Fangmeyer's first name emphasizing that this was a serious matter they were getting into. "Am I the only one who thinks we get unfair treatment as female officers?"

Jayashri and Francine shared a confused look and Geraldine scrunched her lips in frustration. Judy continued.

"We work every bit as hard as our male colleagues. We come here, we do our best at this job every day just like every other cop in the precinct, and how are we treated? We get called demeaning names, we're made to feel like pieces of meat, we're refused the chances to advance when male officers in similar situations are offered these opportunities... surely the rest of you notice some of this."

Fangmeyer responded. "Of course we notice, Judy. While you've been shouting out for 'making the world a better place', did you take any time to look at how you're treated as a female?"

"So why haven't any of you tried to bring complaints to the Chief?" Judy replied. "Why don't we get things to change? We're here to do a job to protect and serve the city, we shouldn't need to be constantly on the alert for injustice directed at us as well."

Geraldine snorted. "What do you expect. We're the minority in this place. You saw what happened in there with Clawhauser and the Chief. He may use the excuse of Ben having prior patrol experience as the rationale to choose him over me, but I've put in that same request repeatedly for the last couple of years and gotten nowhere. Then one odd Monday morning Ben just asks for a chance and gets one; no suggestion to hold-off, no 'let's talk some other time', just 'get started now'. That's the kind of crap we've always had to deal with as females."

Judy was reeling. She had indeed focused a lot on just trying to do her best and make things better. The fact that she had been valedictorian in her class, got a chance to shine in her first case, and made huge strides for the Mammal Inclusion Initiative had gotten her almost believing that all of her fellow female officers were treated with just as much trust and admiration as her. She had been riding high for so long she had started to lose sight of the fact that her status in the precinct was somewhat incongruous.

"Well then I say there needs to be some changes and I say we bring it to the Chief and get things set right."

Francine spoke up. "What do you intend, Hopps? You've been here all of a year, I've been here the better part of a decade. This is how it is, how it's always been. Heck, female police officers are still a fairly new thing for this city. In my grandmother's time you never heard of such things. Of course they treat us differently. We're a minority here among officers, and the higher ups are almost all male as well. We can't get a leg-up because there aren't any chick-officers helping us climb the ladder, let alone keeping the attitudes among the officers kosher."

Judy looked around at her group. "So we just put up with it? Endure it as it comes, day in and day out? 'Our's not to reason why'?"

Geraldine joined in. "Hopps, Francine has a point. We can raise complaints all we want. If the chain of command is all male it won't make a difference. I even submitted a complaint three months back about an officer that got drunk while on the night shift and grabbed me. The worst he got was two weeks suspension without pay."

A jaw drop and a stutter later, Judy was able to answer with: "...wh-wh-WHAT?"

"You haven't dealt with this Judy?" Jayashri asked. "I actually submitted a complaint two months ago. I withdrew it shortly after, but the Chief didn't even know one had arrived."

"We've all been there. For the Chief it's just 'boys will be boys'. You can't change a system that can't think outside itself." Francine concluded.

Judy's mind reeled anew.

"This is ridiculous. We have rights here as officers, and we shouldn't let male authority trample on those rights."

"They'll do more than trample Judy, they silence those who make trouble. How do you think Major Friedkin ended up the instructor at the Academy?" Geraldine replied.

"What?" Judy asked.

"Yeah, you didn't know?" Francine asked in return.

"No, I didn't know anything happened to her. I thought she taught at the Academy because she was the best at churning out the best officers." Judy confessed.

Jayashri shook her head. "She was a captain in Tundratown, one of the highest-ranking, toughest chick officers in all of Zootopia. A lot of us hoped she'd break the glass ceiling and get a spot in Precinct One with 'Chief' in her title. Then about five... no four years back she submitted a complaint about one of the other captains... that one... Captain Grizzo, also up in Tundratown. She cited him first for molesting a citizen who he pulled over for a DUI, then a week later their Deputy Chief talked to Grizzo privately and got rid of the report. So Grizzo confronted her about it... and got inappropriate there too."

"WHAT!" Judy exploded.

"Oh Friedkin took care of herself, and physically Grizzo got what he had comin'." Francine chimed in. "Claw scars across his whole throat, apparently the doctors said his voice-box will never work quite right ever again. But then the Deputy Chief gave Friedkin the choice of either getting the sack, or transferring to the Academy to be an instructor."

"That's so unfair, " said Judy. "She made a report, she got attacked for it, and she gets punished when she defends herself?"

Geraldine shook her head. "It's a male's job Judy. We may be tough enough to take the stress and the danger. It doesn't mean the males here have to like us for it or tolerate our presence."

Judy ground her teeth and looked up at her co-workers. "I want copies of those reports. Every one of them. And logs of reports from the last several months from every precinct in Zootopia. Where do I go to get them?"

Francine whistled. "Well, by law the District Attorney's Office is supposed to handle prosecution, and from what I can recall that's usually where we keep records of all reports of abuse. If I were going to launch any kind of internal investigation, that's probably where I would start."

"Great, then that's where I'm going." Judy declared and started marching away. Francine stepped in her path.

"Whoa, Judy, you can't just go asking the DA for confidential files without a warrant. There are rules to this sort of thing." Francine reminded her.

"Not to mention most of the material you're after wouldn't even be in the DA's possession. You're talking about internal police reports; and not even assault but the next level down: harassment." Geraldine chimed in. "The records in archives would be where you'd find that material... I could get it tonight provided you don't take it off site. Or... Ben could give you access right now if he's willing to help."

Gears started turning in Judy's mind. _Ben needs help getting in shape to get back in training. And maybe he'd be willing to do a little quid pro quo. That's how we get this going._

"Well, since Officer Clawhauser is such an open-minded individual, I'm sure he'll have no problem helping out a friend. Ladies, thanks for meeting with me. When I have more I will get back to all of you. And now, I have an appointment with some files in the archives."

* * *

Judy left her group and went back into the police station. Ben was at the front desk, he was now lying down and huffing repeatedly. Judy came close and got his attention.

"Hi... Ben? Did Bogo make you go for another workout?"

"Oh, hey Judy (gasp). Don't even say that word (gasp). The Chief had me run a mile, (gasp)..."

"Well that's not so..."

"...then I had to get off the treadmill (gasp) and do five pull ups (gasp)..."

"Okay, not the easiest thing ever..."

"...then twenty sit ups, (gasp) and five pushups (gasp)..."

"Okay, a bit intense for a first day, but..."

"...then another mile (gasp)... He said he just wanted to be sure we both made the right decision earlier today (gasp)... or if he should have just given the job to Maddox."

Judy bit back her tongue to prevent snapping that he should have let her try. She only stopped in time by remembering that Ben was her friend and deserved a chance of his own.

"I'm just trying to not die right here on my desk (gasp)," the portly cheetah continued. "My fear is he's going to come down here, make me go to the gym and get on the treadmill, and then crank it up to a crazy speed (gasp), and I'm going to fall off and my heart will explode inside my chest."

Judy snaked her way around the desk.

"You know Ben, when I started off at the Academy I was actually in last place in every segment of the obstacle course. I failed every combat engagement, and was told I had no chance to be a cop. I know a few tips and tricks to get over physical handicaps... mental ones too."

Ben looked at Judy hopefully. "That... could probably be useful if you have any suggestions to give me."

"Sure. And actually if you wouldn't mind Ben, I could really use the key to the archives downstairs. There are some things I need to collect."

"Huh? Oh... Okay, sure. The master keys are here on my belt. What was it you needed? A lot of that stuff needs to remain here." Ben said as he took the keys from his belt.

Judy snatched the keys and in politeness answered as she walked away. "Oh, just some reports related to a case I'm working on. Don't worry, I'm not taking anything off site. I'll bring the files up here so you'll see what I'm dealing with."

Ben nodded lazily.

"Oh good...", and sank back on his desk.

* * *

Judy collected more than just a few months of reports; she went back nearly a year. The number of files was not immense, but neither was it small. More than fifty reports had come from Precinct One, and the archives in the basement of the headquarters included the reports from precincts all around the city. In total they numbered nearly a hundred and fifty, or on average one report every 2.43 days (bunnies are good at dividing too). As she promised the near-comatose Ben, she made sure he had a look at all of the documents she went through, and signed official release statements with Ben's name authorizing her to look into them as part of an investigation of departmental misconduct. After her shift, Judy took this material to one of the back offices and continued pouring through it all. Judy found that this was a much bigger issue than she would have assumed; it made her one bad day with the Chief seem quite tame by comparison.

Around midnight, having gone through only about thirty-five reports, Judy took a number of the documents to Geraldine, who had little else going on while doing the night shift until Tuesday morning. The small rabbit officer brought the documents out to the front desk and, together with the tall giraffe officer, the two of them worked into the wee hours of the morning to read them all. Judy was able to power through her exhaustion with several helpings of carrots (high sugar-content vegetables were better than any coffee), but started her Tuesday in a slightly fatigued state even with a few hours of sleep on one of the precinct office couches.

This became Judy's routine for the next two nights: staying late to work with Geraldine, often grabbing only a few hours of 'shut-eye', and then reporting to duty with slight exhaustion. After the first night, where the two officers had gone through every single report, they committed themselves to drafting an appropriate summary of all the reports, making sure to include dates, remove the names and identities of all officers and personnel involved, but include physical descriptions so the problems in the department would not be smoothed over or neglected by protecting identities. A part of Judy wanted to out everyone: victims, perpetrators, all of them. However, she had not asked for the right to disseminate names, and did not want to wait to get permission, so she did her best to keep as much confidentiality as possible. By the end of it, both she and Geraldine came away with a rather sickened feeling about the state of their department, but with a strong sense of sisterhood about going forward with a plan that would have the Chief and the whole department working to drastically reduce the levels of misconduct.

Many times during the course of their work, Judy felt aghast at the behavior of her fellow officers. It was disturbing to see their names mentioned in these citations, bearing witness to some of their worse acts, and knowing that at sun-up, she would be sitting in the bullpen with these animals as they received their assignments for the day. She made it her business to block out names from her own mind even as she had to make generic descriptions of tigers, wolves, lions and other animals in her report. Thankfully, her near delirium from so little sleep left her with little ability to recall which officers she was supposed to be furious with, and she was able to get back to work.

In all of this, Nick grew ever more impatient with his partner. For two days he barely saw Judy except when they received their orders while in the bullpen every morning. She went about work with him being officious and somewhat distracted. She answered him when he spoke, agreed when he offered opinions, and seemed minimally confrontational... not the Judy Hopps he had grown to know over the year he had interacted with her since she threatened to arrest him for tax evasion.

Nick also grew upset about the little things that were no longer taking place. He used to run into Judy several blocks from the precinct where she would get off the subway and the two of them would walk to work together.

What was equally annoying was Judy's failure to keep him abreast of what was going on in her world. While he respected her right to privacy, her focus seemed to be on some issue related to the department, something that he assumed probably concerned him as well. He recalled that she had said that she would devote Tuesday morning to explain what was going on and had so far failed to do so. Nick had been courteous enough not to probe too deeply, but he had asked many times for more information about Judy's plans. All of his requests had been refused.

* * *

Now it was Thursday, and she still had not shared anything of substance. As Nick drew up in front of the precinct, Judy actually came to the front door to greet him, rather than just meet with him in the bullpen like she had on Tuesday and Wednesday. Nick took a moment to look her up and down: she wore a freshly pressed uniform, held her head high, and looked ready to begin the day's duties; all in all, every bit of them the image of a model officer of the ZPD... 'so why the secrecy?' he wondered.

Ben was at the front desk. He looked physically worn from his workouts, Bogo had been merciless, and the other officers only encouraged working harder, never 'take it easy'. Ben was looking pretty haggard, but he was doing his best to sit upright.

" 'Morning Ben." Judy called to him, and Nick gave a wave as well. Ben smiled back and resumed his duties in his exhausted, sluggish way. As Nick turned his head back to look where he was going he spotted Geraldine Maddox. She was in her civies and headed out to get some proper rest before she had to take on the next night shift. As she passed the incoming duo she gave a nod to Judy, who nodded in return.

Nick caught the exchange and looked askance at Judy. He wanted to ask her what that had been about, but since they were about to head into the bullpen for the morning meeting he decided to let it go for now and wait to ask her once the meeting was done.

The two of them entered the bullpen and took their shared seat near the front. As Nick tried to engage McHorn in friendly conversation, and was given a few gruff responses, he noticed Judy looking passed their nearest fellow officer. Following her line of site, Nick could see she was looking at Fangmeyer, and again that same exchanged nod. The mystery grew for Nick, but before he could think on it any further, Perkins had called for attention and the Chief entered to begin the meeting.

The meeting proceeded as usual: assignments were passed out, officers departed a few at a time, and Judy and Nick were the last to receive theirs. Nick noticed one more of the nodded exchanges in that time. As Francine Paddington took her assignment for the day, she turned over her shoulder to look at Judy, and the two of them nodded. By this point, Nick had started to grow slightly nervous that there was something serious being planned, and while he trusted Judy implicitly, he preferred knowing ahead of time if there was going to be trouble.

The task for the day was simple, regular patrol, keep an eye out for suspicious behavior, let the city know that the animals-in-blue were looking out for them... around the Savanna Central Station and Little Rodentia at least.

* * *

As they left the meeting room, Nick pulled Judy aside.

"Okay Carrots, what's going on? You've been secretive this whole week and I've let it be for the most part because I'm your friend. But I'm also your partner at this job and I need to know if there's something going on."

"Nick, it's fine. Nothing you need to worry about."

"Like hell," he exclaimed. "I saw winks exchanged between you and every one of the female officers before and during our meeting in the bullpen. What is going on and what are you guys planning?"

Judy looked around to make sure no one was listening and then whispered to him. "I'm taking a summary of complaints and a proposed action plan to the Chief this morning after he heads back up to the office."

"Complaints about what exactly?"

Judy looked at Nick as if he had just asked 'How do you know I'm alive?'. The answer seemed so patently obvious to her why she was doing this that the fact that it should escape Nick's notice or understanding confounded her.

"Complaints about the treatment we female officers are getting and how he isn't properly dealing with our complaints about mistreatment. Every one of the girls in this department has submitted notices over the past several months about some form or other of misogyny or unprofessional behavior by male co-workers, and his response hasn't changed the problem in the slightest. So..."

Here Judy pulled out a hefty stack of stapled pages and began to read from the top page.

"Geraldine and I put together a report about all the things we have on record, including copies of our incident reports, the complaints we've lodged, anecdotal reports of misconduct by officers in the field that involve sexual discrimination, the reports from other precincts... the works."

She patted the stack proudly.

Nick looked at her askance.

"...And your plan is to just march into Bogo's office, slam this on his desk and say 'We've got a problem here buster, and you're going to have to solve it whether you like it or not'?"

Judy leaned her head to the side. "Well I planned to make a longer speech about the rights of females, the duty of the Chief to maintain a safe working environment, and some other things, but I suppose if you want to sum it up in just a few words... yeah, that's the idea."

"Carrots, you throw this book at him, he'll probably find some way to throw the book at you. You come at an alpha-type male like Bogo with aggression, you get aggression in return."

"Well what else can I do? I can't just sit idly by and allow myself and my fellow female officers to be bullied by others in the department, him included. And I can't just let it go unnoticed by the higher ups who are responsible for making sure it doesn't happen. What kind of example am I setting for my fellow female officers, or any other mammals in Zootopia for that matter if I can't stand up to injustice in my own work place?"

"I'm not suggesting that you sit idly by, but there's a measure of tact you need here to make it work, and I think you'll get in trouble without using some."

Judy sighed. She had worked hard on preparing this manuscript and did not want to embroil Nick in the matter any more than she wanted to bring in any of the other male officers, which she intended once the higher-ups were enforcing the rules she and Geraldine had drafted. Nonetheless, Nick had shown himself willing to help Geraldine with speaking to the Chief, and while it had not gone over well, most of it had been Geraldine getting vocal about the lack of fair treatment, whereas Ben with the same tips had actually pulled off a successful engagement with the Chief. Ben's elevated mood and exhaustion had been a boon to her in getting access to the records she wanted more quickly... and Nick was her partner. If he wanted to help, Judy saw little harm in at least giving him the benefit of the doubt to see how he might go about doing that. She probed his thoughts on the matter.

"Okay, so how would you have me approach him."

Nick pursed his lips, he knew that what he was about to recommend would get his partner's blood boiling, but he also knew that it was the safer way to address this problem.

"You should let me talk to him, and then later this afternoon you go to him and bring the packet and have your discussion."

"But the whole point was that I was going to give him the packet and then bring all of the female officers to meet with him this afternoon to talk about what has to be done."

"That smacks of ultimatum."

"You think this shouldn't stop now?"

"I think you've had a lot more time to think about this than he's had. You can't go in there and act like you call all the shots. He's the Chief, and if he gets defensive, then nothing will get done. Like earlier this week when Maddox was arguing with him out in the middle of the Precinct. That totally killed her chances of getting through to him on letting her go on patrol. Let me talk to him about it first, I'll butter him up and get him thinking, then you come to him in the afternoon and you talk specifics with him after he's had it on his mind for at least half a day. Let him know what he's missing and get him squared away on the need to do something. Make it clear he can fix the problem, and you want to help however you can. Then bring in the other girls if you have to."

"Nick, I don't see this as a time for half-measures and talk. There's a problem here in the precinct and we need to fight it."

"Yeah there is a problem, so fight the problem, not the Chief."

Judy mulled this over. Nick made some good points. She had come in with intention of having a sort of verbal throw-down with the Chief, but Nick made a good point about how that would not solve the underlying issue. For solutions, she needed to work with the Chief and the rest of the officers and staff at the ZPD. Still, she did not like the idea of sending Nick as the harbinger of her coming. This had been her idea, one that she put together with her fellow female officers, and she felt resolved to be out in front leading the charge to keep their female voices heard and not have males either speaking for them or disregarding them.

"Nick, I should be the one to talk to him about this. This was all my idea."

"Yeah, and it's a good idea, but that's why you should make sure I soften him up so you can lead the discussion. I'm good with delivering a pitch and selling others on it. Like I said, I go in, get him thinking, give you the credit for bringing it forward, and then you finish up with the raw facts that he can't ignore and get him working to change the department's policy or whatever needs to be done."

"I'm not interested in him thinking, I'm interested in him acting."

"And the way to make sure he acts, is to get him to own it. Since he's not one of the regular officers, nor female, he needs to be made aware of the problem. If I make him think there is one, and you bring evidence that it's real, then before long it'll drive him to act, and he'll own the need to do something about it."

Judy looked unconvinced. Nick tried a different tact with her.

"Think about when he asked for your badge after that fight with Manchas. He was ready to let you go home right then and there and never come back to the ZPD, and then I called him out." Judy thought back to that. I was the first moment she felt some real appreciation for Nick and it was the point where their association began to take a turn towards friendship.

She nodded and Nick continued.

"Judy, you had a fair argument and you were right in your position, and he wasn't being fair, but when you argued with him directly he retreated to authority. That's where fairness doesn't matter. It becomes an issue of who has power, and you won't defeat that argument with reason. Me pointing out the problem from an outside perspective and speaking as someone he couldn't just boss around didn't leave him with much of a position for arguing. That's how he got to see your point, a difference of perspective."

"You were a civilian then, now you're an officer and he has authority over you too. He could retreat and use authority to boss you around just like any other officer. How do you expect to get through to him and give him perspective when you're a subordinate?"

"Because I'm not a female officer, and I'm not one of the higher ups that's required by regulation to respond to this or risk my job by ignoring it; that makes me an outsider. Carrots, what have I done with the last twenty years of my life? Gotten animals to agree to what I want, whatever it may be. Trust me when I say I'm good at it. If the issue comes from you, he may see it as a naive girl making childish complaints. That isn't fair, and I know it's not true, but you have to admit he could see it that way." Judy gave a grimace that said she understood, though she didn't like it. Nick continued. "If it comes from someone who isn't on the receiving end of the harassment you're complaining about..."

Judy started nodding.

"Suddenly it's not just my issue or even just a female issue, it's a department issue and he needs to address it." She finished. Nick nodded to the side in a 'I hope so' sort of gesture. Judy had to step back a moment and admire Nick's planning. "And you mocked me for being political, you're a regular high-stakes negotiator. Maybe you should have gone into politics."

Nick sported his cunning smile. He looked up at the Chief's office where Bogo had just ascended the stairs and made for his door.

"Stick around," Nick said as he watched the Cape Buffalo go into his office. "For my next trick, I'm going to put a rabbit's ideas in a buffalo's brain."

She rolled her eyes, but laughed anyway. She held him back from going in straight away and spent a few minutes making sure he knew exactly what he was supposed to share, and the high points he needed to put in the Chief's mind. Nick left rather stunned by what he had been told, but resolved to help his partner deliver her message.

* * *

Bogo set out a few notes and began going over his stack of papers. There were days he honestly missed being one of the officers down in the thick of it. Nothing to do there but what was right in front of him: no meetings, no budgets, no publicity. Just police work... ah to be an officer again.

A knock came at the door.

"Not now." He responded.

On the other side of the door, Nick was now left with two choices: obey and leave, then engage later, or push forward and risk the wrath of his boss. The wiser course of action, the kind that Nick had stuck to most of his adult life when it came to confrontation, would be to back away. Nick however, knew he had to set Judy up for success before she took it upon herself to push envelope too soon. She had wanted to get the Chief in an unguarded moment, and that was something Nick knew had to be avoided if there was to be any productive discussion. So he took a chance and pushed the door open and came in. Bogo was bent over his desk, writing. The Chief looked up.

"Wilde, now's not…"

"I think something needs to be said Chief."

Bogo stood slowly, emphasizing to the fox officer his large mass and making it clear he was not to be taken lightly.

"I hope this doesn't end up being something either of us will regret Wilde."

Wilde quaked slightly under Bogo's gaze. The burly buffalo did indeed look intimidating from the fox's perspective. In response to the show of dominance, Wilde closed the door as he stepped into the office, still resolved to say what he came to say and wanting to avoid eavesdroppers. Straightening himself, Wilde spoke to his large superior.

"Sir, I wanted to talk to you about Officer Hopps and what happened on Monday."

Bogo sighed and sat back in his chair.

"She told you then. Wilde, I made observations and I responded to what I saw as something that could jeopardize both of your careers. I kept it private, no administrative record will be made, an understanding was reached, and nothing more need be done. If it had been you, I would have lectured you on the matter just the same."

"Really?" Wilde's response was accusatory. He started walking closer. "Then why didn't you lecture me? I was part of that exchange. If my career is in danger why am I not being warned?"

"Hopps is the senior of your partnership and I wanted to make sure she was setting the proper tone so that you would learn to march in step."

"Chief, I've only been here a couple of months but I already see some issues that I can only assume you don't recognize because they keep happening. And this incident is one of them."

Bogo craned forward. "What's this about now, Wilde? Did you come here to complain about what happened to Hopps, or is there something else going on?"

Nick took a quick breath and came forward.

"I came here about Hopps, but that's the tip of a much larger iceberg. I think there's a real problem with the way this department handles sex discrimination and harassment, and I think it's building into some big issues."

Wilde hopped up and sat in the chair facing the desk. Bogo sat back and Wilde pushed on.

"You putting Hopps on the spot may be just an isolated incident, and you say she's the senior of our partnership, so fine I understand your reasoning. But there are some other things here that I see no reason for, and I think it needs a lot more attention than you give it."

Bogo did not look pleased with Wilde, but the fox soldiered on with the points Judy wanted him to make. He tried to be as direct and delicate as possible. It was not easy to keep such a balance.

"In that incident, the one last Friday, I bumped her just as often as she bumped me. If that's what you're calling unprofessional, then I was just as unprofessional. Yet you don't even give me one hint of a reprimand. It all goes to Hopps. And beyond this issue, what about what goes on between the other officers and the inappropriate behavior all the male officers are showing?"

Bogo interrupted. "Somehow Wilde, I get the feeling these are the opinions of Officer Hopps, rather than your own."

"These are the opinions of quite a few officers, and yes Officer Hopps made me aware of them, but I share the sentiment, and it's still something that you as the Chief should be aware of."

Before Bogo could respond, Nick launched into another point. "Every few days Delgato makes passes at Fangmeyer or says something somewhat sexist, and I haven't seen you come down on him once like you did to Hopps."

Bogo looked to the side for a moment trying to recall. It didn't take him long to remember a few instances.

"Wilde, those were instances of verbal teasing and he quickly backed off. I stared him down afterwards on each occasion."

The fox remained unconvinced. "And it happens every week Chief. This is your department and you run it how you want, but if you keep trying something and getting the same negative results, then maybe you need a new method, cause this one doesn't seem to be working."

Bogo drew a blank. Nick pushed ahead.

"What about Monday? McHorn's comments about Francine's... posterior? You were in the room when it happened. Seemed pretty inappropriate and I didn't see you ask him to stay after role or stare him down."

Bogo had not thought much of that. He mostly decided to let it go when Francine had just snorted at McHorn but she seemed otherwise unaffected.

"Chief, the female officers may be tough - heaven knows I work with the Iron-Doe of rabbits - but they're getting unfair treatment. The harassment problem needs to be addressed. We have enough things to worry about on patrol without needing to worry about how we're all being treated in the workplace. If my partner doesn't feel safe among her own colleagues, how are she and I supposed to count on each other to get our jobs done?"

Bogo grimace deepened and Wilde sighed.

"Okay, let me just say this, Chief. Not for you to answer, just for you to think about. How many reports of sexual harassment are you getting lately? If it's a growing problem, or a constantly present one, how are you planning to address it so it stops? Also, if the number of reports are diminishing, is it because your method of response works or because you aren't being told anymore because your response in the previous incidents isn't working?"

He left the question hanging.

Bogo kept a firm gaze on Wilde, but had to relax the grimace into an uncertain look. Wilde took the moment to stand from his chair.

"That's all I had to say Chief. You said you're busy so unless there's something you want to tell me, I'll get out of your fur."

Bogo gestured his head toward the door and Wilde took the hint and made for it. He stopped as he turned the handle.

"By the way," Wilde began. "Officer Hopps has a list of incidents that have occurred over the past several months or so that she collected from the archives. She wants to come by and give you the dossier, and I think you should have a look at it. There's a lot there that should be taken into consideration."

Nick left, and Bogo sat at his desk having forgotten about what it was he was about to start on and now totally engrossed in the matter of what Wilde had just mentioned. If there was an issue of sexual harassment in the department, then he was indeed required by law to address it. Though he could name a few minor incidents between officers, he did not see this as a wide-scale problem. If what Wilde said was true, and Hopps had the documentation to back it up, this meant that a lot would need to be done to address the problem across the whole department. Bogo grimaced at the thought of what a shake-up like that would do: the hours, the lost animal-power, the face of the ZPD among the public would all suffer. Still, if there were a problem and he did nothing... that was not an option to him. His primary concern was to take care of the department, and that meant first and foremost, the officers.

Suddenly he felt impatient for Hopps to bring him the documentation to see what she had managed to scare up.

* * *

Bogo returned to his work, but in the afternoon his smallest officer did indeed come up the stairs outside his office with the documents that Wilde had said she would bring. The other female officers marched with her, but she left them outside.

"Maybe I should go in first," Judy suggested. "If we all go in together it might put the Chief on the defensive." Geraldine looked unconvinced.

"We worked on this together, and we all support it. Why shouldn't we all be in there together?"

Jayashri and Francine nodded.

"I just think I can reach him with the documents alone," Judy pressed. "The moment it seems like he needs convincing that there are others that want this to go forward I can open the door and show him who's backing me, and you guys bring in the other reports. I think that has more power: the promise of support he doesn't yet see."

Though Francine and Jayashri exchanged understanding glances, Geraldine shook her head.

"Are you sure about this?" She asked.

Judy nodded.

"I promise I'll ask for help the moment I think it's necessary. Just give me a chance first."

She knocked and Bogo invited her in. He did not notice the other officers in the hallway, but the shadows told him there were others behind the small rabbit officer who marched into his office carrying a large pad of stapled sheets. Bogo actually did not look annoyed by the sight and gestured to the chair in front of his desk.

"Hopps. Wilde told me you might coming around my office some time today. I was told you have some documentation I should look over very closely."

"Chief Bogo," Hopps began as of she had not heard anything. "There is a crisis in this precinct and in other precincts across this city that jeopardizes our entire mission to protect and serve the city of Zootopia. If we don't do something about it, our entire department could be in serious trouble."

Bogo arched eyebrow at the histrionics.

"Hopps?"

"In the words of one of my heroes: 'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent', and I, sir, give no consent to made to feel less than what I am or can be. I am an officer of the ZPD, I put my life on the line to protect and serve my community, and I..."

"Hopps, if this is about the sexual harassment issue, how about you sit down, tell me the main points, give me what you have and we get this moving forward."

Realizing she had been grandstanding, Hopps got up on the chair in front of the Chief and hoisted up the sheaf of paper.

"Okay, the gist of this issue, Chief, is that there have been a series of complaints filed primarily by female officers against male officers over the past several months. Most of the complaints focus around instances of males making lewd or even misogynistic comments in and around ZPD workspaces that typically objectify females and create a hostile work environment."

Hopps opened her packet and laid it out in front of the Chief. To his credit, Bogo opened his glasses and began reading the pages Hopps laid in front of him. Most of the material was written as a summary, with single quotations around descriptions of different officers to eliminate the identities of the officers in question and leave the reader with only the physical facts of each case.

After twenty minutes of reading, Bogo sat back in his chair looking duly stunned. Hopps felt pleased, but waited a moment before speaking.

"So Chief, what do you think?"

Bogo shook his head.

"What I think is irrelevant Hopps. What I need to do is the real question. If this summary of yours is accurate, then a veritable purge will need to follow according to our policy. Am I to understand you got all of this from documents submitted in the past year?"

"Yes Chief. I worked with Officer Maddox and got permission to access the archives from Officer Clawhauser."

"I trust this has remained a departmental issue and not been leaked to the press."

"Yes Chief. I didn't call in newspapers or share it with family. Only ZPD officers are aware of this. I just want to make sure it gets addressed."

"If you have the raw material, I want it brought to my office at once. I'll be going over it all myself and comparing with your's and Officer Maddox's notes."

"Yes Chief... oh, Officers Fangmeyer and Paddington also played a role in getting this issue brought forward."

Bogo nodded. "Yes, good. If you have copies of this summary, I want them circulated to Deputy and Assistant Chiefs in all branches of the ZPD. Send links to the other department heads only. You can have copies of the emails sent to me as well."

Hopps brightened. Bogo looked worn by the realization, but willing to proceed... which was really all she needed.

"Yes Chief, I'll forward this right away."

Bogo nodded again. "Is there anything else necessary Hopps?"

She nodded. "Yes Chief, I want to know when this 'purge' you just mentioned would come into effect? This needs to be taken care of right away."

"Yes Hopps, I know, and it will. I just need a few days to go through it all with the other Chiefs and make sure we decide on appropriate actions to take. If this is the size of the problem we're dealing with, then we need to make sure we set systems in place to deal with the backlog and expedite the process of delivering citations and... if necessary... punishing violators as fairly as possible."

Hopps did not like the almost lukewarm methods the Chief was suggesting.

"With all due respect Chief, these problems are going on right now and new complaints can be expected to keep coming in the longer this waits."

"I'm aware of that Hopps, but I also have to make sure I don't fire whole precincts of officers in the course of a 'witch-hunt' that gets out of control. We need to make sure we have everything in place to deal with the problem now, and prevent more of it happening in the future. Corrected behavior in otherwise good officers is preferable to having empty precincts that can't help the citizenry."

In understanding, Hopps tilted her head. "Okay, that I agree with."

"All right Hopps, bring me the documentation. Tell Clawhauser I want it up in my office in the next five minutes, and then have copies of this summary emailed to the department chiefs straight away. Get to it Officer Hopps." Bogo delivered these last statements with the gruff expediency of a commander directing a subordinate. Hopps snapped to and delivered a salute.

"Right away sir." She announced and jumped from her chair as she ran out the door.

The other females were waiting. Judy addressed them with a swelling of pride.

"We need to get all of the records to the Chief _now_ , and I need to send out the report to all precinct heads for the whole ZPD!" She raved. The other officers exchanged jubilant sounds and scurried to get the documents.

Poor Ben had to get up from recovering after his afternoon workout and monitor the recovery of all of this material from the archives. Of all the weeks that Judy could start making changes, it had to be when he was getting back to training.

* * *

Later in the evening, as Judy packed up her things and shut every day essentials of the office in her locker, she reflected on what had transpired. All in all everything had gone about as smoothly as could be hoped for. Nick had done well in getting the Chief in the right mindset for discussing her issues, and when she brought the documents forward there had been no need to argue, to sway, to convince... everything had turned to dealing with the problem, and Bogo welcomed her efforts (as much as Bogo could welcome anything).

As she left the locker room, she spotted Nick going out the main door. She immediately sprinted after him.

"Nick," she called, and he stopped at the door when he heard and then saw her. They both left together and decided to grab some food from the vendors over near the Central Station. They had grown to enjoy the food stalls and the quick food made by the animals that parked their carts at the mouth of the station and dealt with the flood of travelers moving between the outskirts and the city center everyday.

While Judy ate a crisp spring roll with lettuce and bean sprouts, and Nick bit into a crunchy silkworm falafel, she took some time to share her feelings with her partner, who she felt sad about leaving out of the work she had been through to bring all of this together.

"Thank you, by the way," she began. "If I had done it my way, it may have felt better for a few minutes, but I doubt we'd have gotten a there with the Chief."

Nick shrugged.

"You had a good argument, and it was important work. I just gave an overture and got attention focused where it should. That was your success, Carrots."

"It was everyone's success... now I'm just hoping that Bogo gets cracking on the perpetrators in those incident reports."

Nick nodded.

"Be careful though. You turned the eyes on us all."

Judy looked at him with a bemused expression.

"Is that from somewhere?"

"Just something from a story my dad used to tell me. It means we're all going to be scrutinized and we are all going to be held accountable for our transgressions. And law isn't the only rule we have to obey, it's just the one we all have a written contract to not break."

Nick returned to his food, and Judy allowed herself a few more satisfying bites before speaking again.

"It's weird, you know? I wanted to join the police so I could make the world a better place and stop injustice. I never pictured myself doing this."

Now Nick looked at her with a bemused expression.

"What do you mean? Isn't this under the umbrella of 'making things better'? Fighting injustice?"

"It is," she replied. "But this is more like something one of my feminist sisters would be doing. Leslie, this would be her thing. Or Brianna, that doe I met a couple months ago at that protest, she might have pushed for something like this... I always figured I would just wear my uniform and my badge and enforce the rules. Now I'm trying to change them... it's kinda fun isn't it?"

Nick nodded. "Change is good."

He munched his food, feeling anything but convinced about what he had just said to Hopps. The eye was on them, and while he knew them to be innocent of wrongdoing the previous week, what was coming could reveal other truths he was sure would be better left buried.

Upheavals rarely affected only the intended targets. Nick feared he and many others could end up being collateral damage... well-intentioned though her actions had been, Judy may have set them all on a road to trouble.

* * *

 _In the course of writing I found myself saying more and more about a few characters, particularly my own creation: Officer Maddox. I thought Judy needed some galvanizing instances of office mistreatment. Fangmeyer and Paddington (Francine) were good, and I will elaborate on them in future chapters, but Maddox actually took me by surprise. Just in the course of trying to justify her presence in the story I found myself writing a lot more about her actions and it led to interactions I had not originally planned for._

 _As this story progresses, Nick is becoming further embroiled in Judy's attempts to rectify societal wrongs, but as you continue reading there will appear cases where such changes have unintended consequences for many of the characters. Hence Nick's concern about upheaval._

 _Please continue to read and I hope you will consider writing a comment._


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello everyone. I have received news of several people marking the story as a 'Favorite', and I am pleased to see the response. I would prefer more people wrote something about what they would like included, after all this is a work in progress and the readers have a say, but I know this Zootopian story is still fairly young, no rush._

 _One of the things that bothered me about the end of the film was the seemingly clean transition between Nick's_ dubious _lifestyle, to life as a cadet and eventual graduate of the Police Academy. Part of this chapter deals with how Nick transitioned into being a_ regular _citizen and what that required. In general, I want to avoid a_ Deus ex Machina _that magically makes everything work out, but in this case the creators already seemed to have gone ahead with one, so I have to work with it and fit in a few things to explain them._

 _I want to say thank you to Archangel12575 for some useful points about an appropriate model for the ZPD. I will make a few adjustments to rank structure that I think better match LAPD since the command structure of the NYPD burroughs is not quite how the ZPD seems to be structured. For some things, like officer education, I will keep the NYPD model because it allows me to write some useful backstories - I will explain:_

 _The rules for joining the NYPD_ _require 60 college-level credits and t_ _he background provided by Disney suggests that both Judy and Nick are high school graduates. Given that Judy is 24 when she starts training I have to think she has had some tertiary education, maybe her family could not afford to send her to a four-year university, but she would not have dawdled, she would have some classes under her belt._ _Given his life as a hustler, Nick probably followed less-traditional education methods, but he still went to high school where he would have met Flash ('100-yd Dash'). To meet officer entrance requirements I will assume that Nick had to do online distance-learning while in the Academy and probably still has requirements to fulfill. He likely got accepted to the Academy thanks to recommendation letters_ (most likely from Judy) _and from his service on the NightHowler case. Right now he is wrapping up those requirements and still holds something of a 'probationary status' in the ZPD._

 _The issue of Nick's taxes I will solve in this chapter as well, again with the closest thing to a_ Deus ex Machina _that I intend to use for this compilation._

 _So that deals with how we got to now thanks to the original writers, but now to the issues tackled in the last few chapters._

 _Thanks to the efforts of Judy, Geraldine, Nick, and several other officers in Precinct One as of the last chapter, Chief Bogo is left with little choice but to investigate improper conduct among his officers. As Nick surmised in the last chapter, no such investigation fails to uncover something that was previously hidden, even if it was not the target of the investigation. Often these shake ups may reveal things we conveniently swept under the rug when it may have been inconvenient for our purposes. Sometimes we violate rules simply because there is no enforcement and because the 'proper path' is too damning._

 _Now to the story._

* * *

It was now Saturday, and Judy was feeling much more relaxed and pleased with herself and her life in general. Since handing off her documents to Chief Bogo and emailing her report to other Captains and the Deputy Chief, Judy had been getting along fairly well with her work again.

The first reason for this was that she was finally getting proper sleep and not having to keep herself fueled by constant consumption of carrots. Despite popular belief that she and other bunnies lived on the sweet, orange root vegetables, carrots possessed very high glycemic indeces and were a major health risk in terms of maintaining proper blood sugar. Several of Judy's distant brothers and sisters had contracted diabetes from over-consumption of carrots and now lived in rather poor physical condition, with weakened immune systems. Judy was glad to return to a more stable diet, she needed one if she was going to remain an effective cop and avoid such a fate.

The second reason for her improved well-being was that she got to see Nick again after work, and it had made a big difference in her life.

In just a short time as a ZPD officer Judy had grown quite close to the sardonic fox. Their relationship had begun as somewhat antagonistic but had grown to one of close friendship during her recovery after their first case and his time at the Academy. Now that they were partners the relationship bordered on codependency. Nick was the only officer in the unit who was close enough in size to her that he could use the same equipment, drive the same vehicles, and stick close to her when investigations or chases went through narrow spaces in the city. Other rabbits were now applying to the Academy after the example she set, but it would be a while before any of them graduated, and whether they got to work for the ZPD was another matter entirely. For now, Judy absolutely relied on Nick to support her in her work. It made her glad she had pushed so hard for the department to accept him into the Academy and then assign him to work as her partner.  
While off-duty on the weekends, as she was now, Judy enjoyed having a chance to just call on Nick and spend some time with him around the city. She knew that this particular Saturday he had to study for an exam that he was taking on Sunday, but she hoped he would have a few hours to hang out this afternoon. In fact she was counting on it, since she had just jogged from her place over to his apartment and was headed up the stairwell. If he did not take a bit of time off now, she probably would not see him until they got back to work on Monday... Sunday he would be doing nothing but last minute studying and the test.

Judy felt pumped and excited as she approached the Nick's door.

* * *

As Judy was coming up to see him, Nick sat in his apartment, bent over his desk, scribbling away at the notes he had been taking during the lecture he had listened to the previous evening and this morning. While schoolwork was something he generally abhorred, he would stomach it for the sake of keeping his new job, because these particular grades could make or break his new status.

When Nick got accepted into the Police Officer Training Program he had mostly been coasting on recommendations from Judy and Chief Bogo since he lacked the necessary college credits required for new applicants. Thus he had to take some extra aptitude tests, and afterwards his status as a cadet and then ZPD officer was conditional upon him completing sixty credits (the minimum for officers) within the period including his training and the first two years of service. Nick now had over thirty completed credits with perfect final marks. Most of the courses included some form of technical writing since being an officer meant he had to write up loads of reports efficiently and keep proper paperwork.  
Having been a con-artist, Nick knew the demands of attention to detail, and his talent for the craft had certainly been an asset to him in this aspect of his scholastics. He would soon increase the number of completed credits to almost forty. As it stood, he would probably complete his requirements well before the deadline. The Zootopian University, or 'zoo' as many referred to it, had a number of online courses that made distance education possible, and Nick had breezed through most of his classes with little difficulty, but not without a substantial investment of time. He had not been able to see much of anyone or take much time for fun activities while he took care of these classes and took exams. Finnick he only saw on rare occasions, and his Mom he saw even less often than usual these days. Still, it was a good feeling to see the results of these efforts - it affirmed that he had the smarts to handle this job.

Despite having a minimal formal education, Nick was quite intellectually gifted, particularly when it came to questions of logic, economics (thus practical mathematics), and civics; although his first-hand knowledge did not always agree with the theory he had to memorize for his exams. Right now he was going over notes he made about the separation of powers between the Mayor's office, the Council, the Courts, the Magistrates, and other small subsidiary branches of the democratically-elected federal system of Zootopia. Nick had to withhold his personal insight on the real checks and balances that were not considered _proper channels_. Much of what he was asked to regurgitate in these exams was theoretical pablum written by animals that lived in ivory towers and spent their time reading essays written by other similarly disconnected animals like themselves. Nowhere in all of these lectures was there mention of crime-bosses, gangs, bureaucratic abuses and bottlenecks to law that pervaded life at the street level. For Nick, life had always been about navigating these pitfalls in the system in order to get anything done. This was essential when you were a citizen who was considered to belong to a lower social class of animal. Nevertheless, his exams did not allow for alternative (and in reality 'more accurate') statements that he could bring to the fore. Face-to-face he might have argued his points, but he cared more about getting his credits so he could keep his status as an officer than simply winning arguments, so he made the adjustments.

Judy would probably come by any minute to steal him away for the rest of the afternoon, and he would not be able to study for most of the rest of the day. He could practically set his clock by Judy: she came every Saturday afternoon around 2 PM, after she had made calls to her family in Bunnyburrow and taken care of some volunteer work she liked to do with the Friends-of-Zootopia charity. He liked having her visit, but at times her arrival bordered on intrusion since he could do nothing to stop her. There was no turning her away or saying that he felt like being alone. No matter what the weather, no matter his condition or desire, Judy would be there.

Seeing that it was only five minutes until the arrival of his expected visitor, Nick sat back and just took the time to soak in what he had been studying and bask in the comfort of his current state of existence. Being a police officer was at times a difficult and odd pursuit for him; not one he had every really imagined for himself. Still, compared to where he had been before, there was no question that he was in a better place... if only it had been easier to make the transition.

One serious problem Nick had had to face when pursuing a legitimate career path was his previous tax evasion. While he had never dealt in illicit material, threatened other animals' livelihoods, or endangered the lives of his fellow citizens, he had effectively 'broken the law' for much of his adult life. Hustling a few pawpsicles was not the issue, but making money on his transactions and purposefully not reporting it to the government was not something to be taken lightly. However, true to his clever nature, Nick had managed to erase those infractions and in one fell swoop cut his ties to a number of organizations of 'questionable' business practice. He allowed himself a small feeling of pride to think about it.

Shortly after the arrest of former Mayor Bellweather, Nick had met with Mr. Big about their former business relationship. After Judy's involvement in a number of events that had direct and positive impacts on Mr. Big - rescuing his daughter Fru Fru and friend Emmett Otterton - the small mob boss found a somewhat forgiving nature when he spoke with 'Nicky'. Reminiscing about his late Grandmama's affection for the clever fox certainly helped. The two had agreed on a mutual severing of all business ties in exchange for a redistribution of Nick's saved wealth - with a fee to Mr. Big for the time and effort of conducting this redistribution. Since the majority of Nick's customers (Lemming brothers, Little Rodentia Construction, etc.) were subsidiary companies or affiliates of Mr. Big's 'legitimate' businesses, Mr. Big was able to have 'Nicky' meet with some of his attorneys and write off the money he made in his transactions as a series of 'gifts' between Mr. Big and the 'Wilde Trust': an account set aside for Nick to provide for himself and his mother, Kate. It legitimized a lot of Nick's residual wealth, and left his Mom with full, legal access to his money.

While this arrangement between a new police officer and a well-known organized crime boss was not an ideal arrangement for Nick, particularly if he came under the eye of Internal Affairs, it was preferable to five years in prison, and much of the actual paperwork that could tie the two together was so convoluted and disorganized that there was only a weak correlation between them. The end result was that Nick came to his new position with the ZPD with a history that was neither spotless nor soiled-beyond-legitimacy: a relatively average new recruit. Thus Nick was no longer at risk of arrest for false reports to the Zootopian Revenue Service, and he and Mr. Big cut all business ties, allowing Nick to live his life without any further involvement from the mob.

It had not been easy, but so far it seemed to work.

* * *

While Nick sat relaxing and reflecting on these changes, Judy came to his door and knocked. He checked his watch and smiled to see that his prediction of her timeliness had come true.

 _One of these days I should just sit at the door and open it right at this exact moment,_ he thought to himself. Nick stretched his arms and went to answer the door. Reaching for the handle, Nick opened the door and found his shorter friend just where she always was at this time of day: right behind his door handle and just a half-step to the side. They smiled as their eyes met, and without another word, Nick grabbed his keys and stepped out into the hallway before turning and locking the door behind him. Not a word was spoken, and the two physically mismatched animals walked to the stairwell (the elevator in the building was nonfunctional) and walked down to the street. Judy had been in his room a few times when visiting: it was a bit like hers over the 'Grand' Pangolin Arms in that it was narrow, grungy and cheap. Judy had marveled at the similarities, but Nick did not have the same romantic attachment to it that Judy had with her place. He had lived in similar places all his life. This place served its purpose and would keep until he decided to move to a better place after he saved enough money... or found a decent roommate to share a place with.

The two friends spent the whole afternoon just wandering the Downtown section, and only occasionally stopped to say something to one another and peek in on something through a window. This was a somewhat lazy afternoon. Judy knew she could not take Nick too far from his notes since he needed to be able to get back to it without interruption or re-integration of his thought processes. She mostly waited for him to ask a question or start a conversation topic.

If it had not been a test-weekend, the two of them might have gone somewhere more exotic: the Canals, the Canyonlands, the Marshes, maybe the Rainforest... with a city the size of Zootopia it would be hard to ever see everything, even if one wandered different streets every day for years on end. With only the odd weekend between them, it meant they almost always had somewhere new to visit.

Judy loved these times since it gave her the chance to see a new part of the city. For Nick it was much like visiting a room you hadn't been in for a little while, though it was all part of the same house you grew up in. It was good for him to do this with Judy, though. Her perspective of a place he considered old or unimpressive became imbued with the magic of new experience for him too... she infused his whole world with a little bit of the beauty that she saw, and it was good for him.

After two hours of wandering the town and feeling the hum and beat of Zootopia, Nick and Judy returned to his apartment and sat practicing some of his exam questions for the next hour. Nick broke out some diet-neutral energy bars that both he and Judy could consume while they worked. The bar flavors were Eucalyptus for Judy, and Blueberry for Nick.  
As the sun began to dip from the sky, Judy decided to call it an afternoon, bid Nick goodbye, and walked herself down the street. The gentle-creature in Nick was insisting that he go out and help his friend home, but the part of him that knew the independent, self-reliant aspects of Judy's personality forced him to remain at home and let his friend walk herself. Thus Nick waved goodbye to Judy and returned to his studies.

* * *

"So how was the exam?" Judy asked Nick as they came into the precinct Monday morning.

"No real surprises, but it's hard sometimes to go with the answers they give you to choose from. Carrots, have you even seen some of those questions? Half of what they write in those books is garbage. Real politicians and bureaucracies don't work like that. They make back-door deals, they agree with animals of 'low-repute' and they often have vices that are pretty creepy - things that should disqualify them from public office."

She patted his arm. "Well, that's where we come in. We'll spot flaws, clean up corruption, and make the world the way so it fits with the ideal."

Nick smiled and shook his head a little. Judy was ever the dreamer, and while he rarely had as much hope on these matters as she did, he would not want her any other way. As they took their seats, Judy's expression turned more serious. She had not heard anything from the Chief since she had given him the document and sent copies to the other Chief Officers in the ZPD. Today she hoped he would be bringing some changes that would start to make an impact on the department.

The Chief's silhouette appeared in the glass of the door, and Officer Perkins announced "Attention on deck." The contingent snapped to and everyone held themselves at their full height, but then something strange happened; the Chief did not enter the room.

For several long minutes the officers maintained their at-attention position and waited for the Chief to come through the door and give them their orders for the day, but still he made no move. His silhouette just hung in the glass, with a slight change in aspect now then that indicated he was slowly turning his head side-to-side. Some officers started stiffening their backs, producing popping sounds in their joints. Next to McHorn, Judy could hear a slow, sharp inhalation through the rhino officer's tight nostrils as he stood waiting for orders, and it pierced Judy's ears. In the back of the room, Nick could just make out the sound of Wolford grinding his teeth; a nervous habit Nick had noticed in the wolf officer. Judy looked over to her right to see Officer Fangmeyer clenching and un-clenching her paws as she stood at attention. She looked back at Judy and gave her a look that said she had no idea what was going on either.  
For several interminable minutes this persisted: Chief Bogo's silhouette hung in the glass of the door near the front of the room, Perkins stood at attention with the whole unit, and occasionally the hippo officer looked to the side to see if Bogo would finally open the door. After a short time everyone in the room was making some form of fidgeting, nervous noise.

Finally the door flew open and smacked against the wall. Many of the officers had actually started to zone out and were surprised by the sudden smash of the door against the wall. Bogo walked in on heavy hooves, clenching his clipboard tightly and making every step very deliberate. Many animals would not be able to differentiate Chief Bogo's anger from his normal crankiness. The officers who had worked under him for years were among the few in Zootopia who knew when the 'big-softie' was genuinely peeved. This was one of those moments.

Bogo stood in front of the room, and in view of his crankiness, no one made to offer a 'psyche-up' chant. Bogo in turn did not tell the officers to be seated, but launched right into what he had to say.

"The unit will remain at attention until I say otherwise."

No one spoke, but several officers that had begun to slacken their posture stood taller. Bogo continued.

"It has come to my attention that there have been a number of inappropriate comments, advances, and other interactions in this precinct that violate our code of professional conduct. This behavior has particularly impacted a number of concerned female citizens and several female officers."

Heads turned to several of the female officers in the room. Most turned to Judy but she sat solid and facing forward. Nick noticed that a few of the gazes were actually directed at him and his posture sunk ever so slightly under their gazes.

"Eyes up _HERE_!" Bogo thundered and the contingent snapped to. "There has been a backlog of reports of this misconduct, and while I have been doing what I can to address the problem, I have been remiss in determining how effective my response has been. First and foremost I want all officers who have made reports to know that new action is being taken and a full accounting of the need to change begins now."

Bogo placed his glasses on his nose as he read from his clipboard.

"Beginning this evening, each and every officer will be undergoing Workplace Harassment Training to learn more about this issue. All of you will be made aware of when harassment occurs and whether or not what you are doing, or what you are enduring, from colleagues constitutes harassment. Further, I will be meeting individually with those who have submitted incident reports to obtain a full description of each incident and will be speaking with those about whom reports have been written. While I take no pleasure in administering disciplinary action I _will_ stick to the no-tolerance policy of this department which I have grown lax in enforcing. All officers who have demonstrated improper conduct _will_ be held accountable. Additionally, all officers will produce handwritten or typed reports about what they synthesize from the lectures I mentioned previously."

Heads turned to the side to whisper and a few groans echoed around the room. Bogo slammed the podium and many officers jumped.

" _EYES ON ME_! I'm not leaving this issue to some nonsense, multiple choice, box-checking crap. This kind of behavior will _NOT_ be tolerated either in this precinct or _ANY OTHER_ precinct in Zootopia. When you put on those uniforms, you promise to represent the very best of this city, and as a unit you are coming up short. I have no room for those who cannot obey the law or the policy of this department and I will administer punishment to _ANYONE_ who flagrantly disobeys the rules. Officer Clawhauser has your assignments for the day as well as your training and assessment schedules. You will attend your scheduled meetings, you will provide me with a written synthesis of what you learn, and if I think you fail to absorb the necessary lessons from this course, or that you fail to demonstrate proper conduct as officers of the ZPD, you will be subject to a hearing, removed from duty, and depending on the severity of your infractions you may suffer legal prosecution. _DISMISSED_."

With that, Bogo walked out of the bullpen, leaving his officers with a range of looks of stunned, terrified, pleased, excited... and angry.

* * *

After getting their assignments from Ben, Nick and Judy both decided to hit the bathrooms before hitting the streets. Nick finished early and walked from the office corridor. As he walked he heard the busy typing, paper-shuffling, and chair rolling of the humming back offices where desk officers worked, and where the information that beat cops like him operated on was generated, processed, and turned into orders.

As Nick passed the offices he entered a corridor of private offices. This was where supervisory officers sat a lot of the day when they needed to think, work through the mountains of paperwork they had, or just be out of the fray. Nick liked the thought one day he might be in here... if he were a detective he might even get there faster.

"Hey Fox." A voice called to him threateningly as he walked down the hallway. Nick froze and looked behind him to see the large polar bear officer Grizzoli, who stood at the end of the hallway. The large predator had a very petulant look about him.

"What's the deal getting the Chief all steamed at everyone?" Grizzoli challenged.

Nick faced him, and though he felt nervous by the show of aggression, he spoke his peace. "I didn't get anyone steamed, Grizzoli. I spoke to the Chief about a problem, and asked him to think about it. Nothing more."

"Oh, really? Seems like you and Hopps are back at stirring things up. You know it's hard enough on this job without having this crap at the office. Let the hippies and the whiners complain about laws and let us do our job on enforcement."

"Well laws weren't made perfect Grizzoli. And my partner and a lot of other officers suffered some unjust treatment. I just let the Chief know there were problems and something needed to be done, others came forward with specifics. I never told him how to handle it, that's his prerogative." Nick defended. Grizzoli took a few heavy steps closer to Nick.

"Maybe it's hard for you to understand, seeing as you're a fox and all, but in this unit we take care of our own. Since you so willingly went to blab at the Chief, I guess you wouldn't know what that means. Now he's coming down on all of us and some of the guys are probably going to get in trouble when they don't deserve it."

Nick chose not to retort to that statement. In truth he did not like the idea of a full inquisition by the department that was probing all officers. He had enough stories he would rather not have exposed. Grizzoli's comments about 'taking care of our own' left Nick a bit angry, making him want to make comments like 'take care of who specifically?', but he kept a lid on it.

"The Chief will do his job: take care of the department and all of its members. We'll all take training, if we've had complaints we'll go over them with the Chief, and then I'm sure it'll be back to the grind as usual. If he starts throwing around punishment unjustly we can all protest _that_ too and get things sorted, so I'm not sure that there's an issue here Grizzoli."

McHorn suddenly came into the hallway just behind Grizzoli. The fluorescent lights above his head flickered ever so slightly at the thudding impact of his large hooved feet. Nick fought the urge to take a step back, but he felt a _very_ strong urge to direct himself towards running away.

"The issue is you're a rat, Wilde. I never really trusted you; was always pretty sure you came from the other side of the law. And now I'm starting to think you wanna get in good with the Chief to pull a fast-one."

"And being subjected to the same scrutiny as everyone else is part of this brilliant plan?" Nick retorted sarcastically. McHorn did not have much to respond to with that, but he channeled his lack of any clever retorts to making a deeper grimace.

"I think maybe we ought'a step outside and talk this over." Grizzoli said with the softest level of threat in his tone. Nick was reminded of the days in his childhood when he crossed some big cops who eyed him suspiciously, looking for an excuse to let him know what they thought of him, and tell him with force.

While Nick had grown to feel a bit emboldened by his status as a cop, he still felt nervous to see two very large, physically-fit officers facing him down. He did not want a fight if he could avoid one. After all, regardless of the outcome (which could mean serious injury on his end), Nick was the rookie of the department, and making trouble as the new kid could lead to punishment or even dismissal if the Chief thought him a liability.

As Grizzoli started to step forward, a challenging voice came from behind Nick's shoulder.

"Is there a problem here?"

It was Judy who had spoken, and with her came Jayashri Fangmeyer, as well as Christopher Sharp, one of the wolf officers with whom Nick got on well. Suddenly a mild rumble echoed along the corridor and Francine Paddington brought her large uniformed self into view.

"Indeed officers, _is_ there a problem?" she asked. There was a thinly veiled threat in her voice that put everyone on edge. McHorn and Grizzoli combined were barely the same mass as Francine, and her presence on Nick's side of the room suddenly made any outcome in this encounter less definite.

"Just a minor disagreement between us and the fox. Nothing but words." McHorn grated out.

"That's _Officer Wilde_ to you." Judy growled.

McHorn grimaced, and his lips stiffened, but after Francine had come on the scene he was treading lightly to avoid antagonizing anyone unnecessarily.

"Right, _Officer_ Wilde." He sneered.

Grizzoli and McHorn started forward and slowly, deliberately, walked passed Nick, with Grizzoli not bothering to move a bit out of Nick's way. The result was his paw bumping right into Nick's shoulder and knocking him back against the wall. Judy started thumping the ground with her hoof, while the other three bristled and stiffened their shoulders and backs. In response, Grizzoli took a half step away from Wilde and closer to McHorn, and the two of them walked by the other officers. Both contentious males looked pointedly at Judy. She did her best not to wilt under their gazes, but it took all of her resolved not to allow her nose to start twitching, or her ears to droop back in her fight or flight pose.

Once they left, Jayashri and Francine nodded to Judy. Sharp nodded to Nick and then to Judy and all three of them walked away. Judy heaved a sigh of relief and then went to Nick, who had not moved since Grizzoli had knocked into him. He was still watching the edge of the corridor where Grizzoli and McHorn had departed through. He still looked a bit shaken.

"Wow, some strong feelings flying around about this business with the Chief." She said.

Nick grimaced. "Ya' think?" He gestured for her to walk with him and they made their way to the Atrium.  
"When do we have our Harassment Training?" He finally asked.  
Judy opened her folder and looked over their schedules.  
"Well we both start our training this evening, but there are meetings and seminars every evening for about an hour and a half except Friday."  
Nick's eyebrows went up, _six hours_ over four days. Whatever the Chief and the captains and commanding officers saw from the documentation Judy brought they must have thought it worth doing a lot of retraining for a lot of officers. That would come later, for now they had patrol in their regular section, though they were supposed to cover more of the Downtown area (not far from where they had been wandering yesterday). The need to move on the streets now required a vehicle, and it was Judy's turn to drive.

"Well, let's get a move-on Carrots." He said and started walking towards the garage. Judy fell into step alongside him.

As they passed other officers in the halls, there were occasional nasty glares thrown their way. Judy quickened her pace and pulled Nick along with her. She was going to continue being an officer and doing what she loved - making the world a better place; she looked ahead, towed her partner by his tie and marched toward the garage doors resolutely. Nick, while he put up with Judy yanking on his tie, was witness to a very different view of their situation. One thing that Judy never quite seemed to realize was that when they walked places together there were ugly glares. Most of the time just a regular, distrusting gaze, sometimes a look of great hostility. Nick being almost twice Judy's height and with sharp eyes was also able to differentiate line of sight that usually revealed the hostile gazes to be aimed at him. Today, everyone was looking angry and distrusting: Grizzoli and McHorn had only been the most aggressive tip of a very large iceberg of hostility being directed at the fox officer.

As they got through the doors and started walking towards their patrol vehicle, Nick thought back on the confrontation in the office area. True there had been a few officers on his side of the room to prevent a tussle, but if their actions we any clue to their sentiment, they had been there because of Judy. When he got knocked to the side by Grizzoli the others may have bristled, but none of them had come forward to see if he was okay; even Judy had not thought to ask. Looking at the situation objectively, Nick figured their presence during the confrontation was due to who his partner was, and not due to him actually being in trouble.

"Do you think any of the other cops are going to get as edgy about this as Grizzoli?" Judy asked as she unlocked the car. Nick waited until they climbed in and buckled up before answering. Ever since Judy had caused him to face-plant by a rapid braking action while on patrol Nick had become militant about having his seat belt fastened when his partner was behind the wheel.

"I think this is what happens when you rock the boat Carrots. Some don't like the shaking, and get mad at those that started the trouble."

"Have a little more enthusiasm about this, Nick. We're doing good on this. All of those problems the other officers told me about... we're finally going to set things right and get the department back on track."

 _Wash away the filth_. Nick mumbled to himself in a soft, disconsolate air.

He did not get to dwell on the matter long. The main door opened, Judy put the accelerator down, and their car coasted out of the garage and into the light of day.

* * *

After that, the first few days went by about as well as could be expected. It was hard for everyone to have to go through these issues. In a way it would have been easier to just pretend that everything was just as fine and well-ordered as they had always thought. The threat of suspension for not synthesizing the lessons of the training was enough incentive for many of the officers to pay close attention to the talks and keep good notes. Many were startled to find how close some of their behavior bordered on inappropriate, even some of the other female officers had not fully appreciated how some of the comments they were subjected to were not your run-of-the-mill joshing, but actual sexual discrimination. Many of the more mild personalities among the group were rather startled by this new information.

Wednesday evening, after completing their Harassment Training, Nick and Judy were walking by the front desk, when a tired looking Ben Clawhauser waddled out from behind his desk to grab them... or specifically, grab Nick.

"Hey Nick, I got a message from Payroll, they wanted you to stop by and help them solve some problems."

Nick froze. "Did they say what it was about?"

Ben shook his head. "Just that there were some issues in your financial history that they needed to sort through. They seemed to want to talk to you pretty urgently."

That put Nick on edge. The issues of his life before being an officer would originate in payroll if they were found at all. He thought he had done a good job of putting these matters behind him and getting his life on track, but if they uncovered something suspicious and tried to trace it back to what had been going on before working with Judy... the word 'trouble' hovered in Nick's mind.

Nick did not dally, but went straight to the back offices. The payroll office was in its own room, deep in the catacombs of the building. Inside, Nick spied a beaver at the front desk, nervously chomping on one pen, while he twiddled another between his claws. He scribbled on sheets of paper and scanned his computer monitor closely. Looking at the mug of pens on the desk, all of them had bite marks and dents that indicated a fair amount of tension. Nick came up slowly and announced himself as coolly as possible to avoid giving any more shock to an animal who seemed to be somewhat on edge.

"Hi, I'm Nick Wilde. I was asked to come here about an issue of some kind."

The beaver looked up for a moment, nodded and resumed his scribbling. Nick waited another moment and then the beaver put his writing pen down, took the 'gnawing' pen from his mouth, and looked up with a fresher face.

"Hi Wilde, just a few quick questions about some of your pay information. The Chief ordered some weird set of background checks on past behavior of all the officers, and since you're pretty new we needed to go back to matters before you joined the department. Nothing serious, just want your input so we can get this taken care of quickly."

Nick put on his best nonchalant face. "All right, what's up?"

"When you joined the Precinct a while back we did a background check to compliment the one done by the Academy. You came through all right, no major red flags, nothing of course that would prevent you from being made an officer, but like I said: crack-down, Chief's orders, reviewing personnel records... you get the drill. Anyway I was looking through and found some indiscrepancies regarding your pay."

Nick began to feel his heart beat faster, but did his best to maintain control. "Indiscrepancies in what exactly?"

"Well when we asked for an account to have on file while you were at the Academy you gave us the routing address to a private fund with Timberlands Bank known as the 'Wilde Trust'. Since joining you've switched to another personal account with the Zootopian Central Bank. I was curious about that fund, kind of an unusual case for a cadet or an officer to be contributing money to something other than a private account."

"Uh, yeah. That's the account I share with my Mom. I try to send money there for her to have access to. She doesn't make much and needs some financial assistance now and then."

The beaver nodded and continued looking at his screen while tapping his pen on the desk.

"All right. And when you started here as an officer, like I said, you changed your account so all direct deposits went to a personal checking account with the Zootopian Central Bank. Is that true?"

Nick nodded. "Yep."

"Any particular reason you had it changed? That account for the trust can also receive direct deposits."

Nick had rehearsed how he would address this problem and kept his calm, smooth-talking street-wise persona out in front.  
"Well my mom had the trust set up as a place for me to deposit money from my odd jobs with the service sector before I was an officer. I had a lot of different jobs with different contractors - food service, courier, building supplies - a lot of different things. Anyway, the trust has always had money kinda going in, coming out, it was always kinda irregular - I mean work was irregular, pay followed the same cycle as work. So I thought a new account just for my work as an officer would make it easier to keep track of my finances."

The officer looked at Wilde dubiously, but went back to the sheet on the computer screen and cross-checked some things on the hard copy on the desk.

"Some unusual payments there going back to Lehman Brothers and a Saul Volenstein C.P.A. in the last few months. What was that about?"

Nick's breathing began to settle. This much he knew and could explain easily enough.

"Well I had some issues with how I had been paid from my jobs, mostly i was a question of whether or not the pay was taxable or if I could claim certain allowances. Lehman Brothers were my primary benefactors in all of my odd jobs, and Saul was recommended to me by them. Just some last minute things I needed to take care of before I started more regular work here. Actually since I started here I don't think I've really put any money into the trust that didn't come from my work as a cop."

Seeing that there was nothing glaringly wrong with any of this, despite its somewhat unusual nature, the officer sat back.

"Very well, Wilde. I think that about takes care of it. I'll mark off your case as settled and pass that along. That's all."

"You sure? At the front desk I distinctly heard the word 'urgent'. I figured you would be needing me for a while."

"Well they were essential questions and I want to take care of it as soon as possible, but it's all a matter of quality control. Anyway, I've asked my questions and your answers seem to check out. Was there anything _you_ needed help with?" Despite asking, the beaver officer gave off the air that he did not want any more to do with this issue if it could be helped. Nick was fine to let it go.

"No, I'm good. Glad to be of help." Nick replied and slowly walked out of the office. He strode past the cubicles, through the atrium, and once he got outside the main entrance he let out a long sigh. All things considered the turning over of little stones from his past had not been particularly damning and this had all gone remarkably smoothly. Nick was relieved to have taken care of those issues all of those months ago; today could have ended very differently and nowhere near as friendly.

Suddenly, Judy materialized right next to him. "Hey, what was that about?" She asked. When Nick came out of the Payroll Office he had gone resolutely past her and right out the front door.

"Some loose ends in my finances that caught the eyes of some attentive accountants." Nick replied. "I was a little nervous there for a bit... I figured there would be some questions about my tax forms. Fortunately, not so."

Judy covered her mouth. Nick had not told her the full story of what he had to do to 'legitimize' the money he made as a con-artist, only that he had taken care of legalities with Mr. Big and was no longer at risk for his background check. Apparently a closer look after this shake up had uncovered a few things he had failed to bury adequately.

"Do they suspect something?"

"I don't think so. They asked for me to answer some questions so they can understand why I set up my accounts like I did. My gut says they could be a little suspicious, but all of my money was under the table and I legitimized its sources in writing with an accountant and paid some back-taxes. There's a paper trail for me now and I should be free of those other 'problems' you pointed out all of those months ago."

"Gosh, I thought this was taken care of. You said it was taken care of months ago."

"And it was - apparently with this whole crack-down the Chief asked payroll to look into things a bit further back. But I explained myself and the payroll officer seemed to accept it, so I think we're okay. Or at least _I'm_ okay."

Nick straightened up and cracked his neck as he let out another sigh, then turned back to his partner.

"Though I admit, this is the sort of thing I was concerned about. Animals start looking into one problem, and there's a risk they end up finding out about other problems too."

"Nick, that's no excuse not to investigate corruption."

"Not giving excuses Carrots, just saying this is why I wasn't as enthused about it as you."

She nodded and gestured towards the street. He started walking with her and they made their way toward the subway. Nick thought of sharing his thoughts from earlier about how the other officers did not seem overly concerned about his well-being, and how they seemed to be there to support Judy rather than him. He decided instead to keep it to himself. Judy had enough antagonism on this issue without him bringing her down any further.

They rode the subway car in silence.

* * *

 _This is where the witch-hunt starts to place the careers of ZPD officers in jeopardy. While Nick got lucky with his own past problems and managed to avoid too much inspection, there are others (those with citations and incident reports) that are unlikely to be so lucky. Judy Hopps may have a clean record and be above these problems, but she has led a rather sheltered life in rural Bunnyburrow. Most of the animals in the ZPD are not as untainted by things that happen in the Big Jungle, and sometimes just by accident we may flout the rules of the system and inadvertently put ourselves at risk in regards to inquisitions like this._

 _In any shake-up, no matter how appropriate or overdue (such as one to address workplace harassment), there will always be those that suffer without having been responsible for causing the trouble that led to the shake-up. In this case, McHorn stands to suffer a little backlash from his treatment of Francine (what the shake-up intends to address), however Nick is not guilty of such infractions, but could still wind up in trouble. As I will show in the next chapter, the nature of Grizzoli's anger is not about his own situation but in regards to how it will affect others he knows._

 _Another thing I want to go over briefly is Judy and Nick's relationship. While they are close and care for one another they are_ platonic _. I know a lot of fans imagine a romantic relationship between these two, and many would love to see these two together, but looking at their interactions at the end of Zootopia, they appear to be no more or less than close friends that are comfortably ensconced in a non-romantic relationship. That is not to say that there_ couldn't _be something between the two at some point, they just aren't at that stage. Whether or not it ever will be..._

 _Also, for Nick the shake-up has brought to light some 'speciesist' issues among the department with regards towards him. Despite his nominal acceptance as an officer_ (pending education requirements) _, there are still some harsh feelings about him being an officer and a fox. I always felt that the end of the movie wrapped up of Nick's status in society a little too easily. If the Chief so quickly disregarded his testimony because he is a fox, that seems like some pretty heavy stereotyping to overcome. I will bring in more to that story to explain what Nick has had to go through, and his story will be further elaborated on in the story that follows 'Shake-Up' (_ _'The Rabbit, the Fox, and the Wild'_ (Rated: M)).

 _For now, stay tuned for the next installment of 'Shake-Up'._


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello and welcome to what will be the last installment of this story. Rest assured there are other stories from this Zootopian world that are soon to be published._

 _I found myself wanting to finish this introduction to my version of Zootopia as quickly as possible so I could get to the stories I really wanted to write. These other stories I have devoted much more attention to in my off-time. I apologize to my readers if this story has come off seeming a little half-baked or contrite, I tried to do this subject justice with the level of focus, detail and attention I can spare it from my other demands. The next story in the sequence I promise will have a lot more to it._

 _Now to prepare you for this chapter:_

 _Any just assessment of an incident will include scrutiny of all of its members. The actual investigation will go on much longer than the week I have devoted to it in this story, and the events of this chapter will reverberate in the department for months if not years to come. These first days are where the tone will be set for the events that follow. Judy and Nick's own conduct will come under scrutiny as well._

 _I have Chief Bogo interrogating his own staff regarding their conduct, but he is also under observation by Internal Affairs in this matter so that his actions are also being accounted for. Bear in mind that this is a work of fiction and is not necessarily representative of the ideal_ modus operandi _of departmental investigations. It is meant to peel back the layers of the ZPD and its officers and reveal that their relationships, motivations and actions are not always what we assume._

 _On with the story._

* * *

At last Friday had arrived, and both Judy and Nick were due for their interrogations with Chief Bogo. They came into work in the morning as usual and went straight for the bullpen, passing Ben Clawhauser who was at his desk and trying his hardest to sit up straight despite the fatigue of his most recent session in the gym. Though Chief Bogo was quite busy with the departmental investigation and was under investigation himself as part of the routine, he was not letting up on the cheetah officer in the slightest, and had started to come down even harder.

To his credit, Ben was taking the possibility of a transfer to patrol very seriously and pushing himself hard. Judy and Nick each waved to him as they went passed the front desk, and Ben waived back as enthusiastically as his exhaustion would permit.

In the bullpen, officers were much more subdued than they had been at the start of the week. The constant interrogations by Internal Affairs, the repeated questioning by the Chief, the late-night seminars about harassment in the workplace and team-building exercises, coupled with the demands of their regular police work had exhausted most everyone and created a very strained environment. McHorn looked even crankier than usual, Grizzoli had been looking rather disconsolate and depressed, Delgato looked nervous, Paddington was edgy, Fangmeyer was groggy, Wolford looked exhausted, and Perkins - who had to take charge of day-to-day operations - was looking quite worn down himself.

While Judy had started the week bright-eyed and bushy-tailed she was starting to feel a lot of the depression through the collective mood around her. Nick was also lacking in good cheer, especially since the confrontation with McHorn and Grizzoli. Both of them had suffered put downs from the other cops the whole week, but while Judy had enjoyed some positive reinforcement from her fellow female officers, Nick had endured only disdain and deprecation without any support. He had grown tough skin in his years of conning and ducking the police, but this was getting to be more than his thick fox-hide could take.

Perkins gave everyone their assignments with frank officiousness and dismissed them to their duties.

Judy and Nick had patrol via squad car again and today was Judy's turn to drive. She got the keys from the lock-up, unlocked their squad car and drove herself and Nick to their designated patrol sector. Nick scanned the streets and breathed tensely through his nose as he watched for any wrong-doing among the citizenry. He had been very quiet and lacking in quips since Monday, and while Judy figured he was just tense because the department was tense, she had decided to let sleeping foxes lie... provided he did not actually fall asleep on the job. Given that both of them were due to talk to Chief Bogo today there was reason to be tense. Francince, Jayashri and many of the officers in their branch had already had meetings with Chief Bogo. None had been put on suspension as such, but some were due for further interrogation pending recommendations from Internal Affairs. Even some of the female officers were due for further inquiries, some had had complaints leveled against them as well. Judy was surprised at how much distrust and negative feelings there were among the department, though having only been there a little over a year she was not surprised that she had missed some of it.

She was just glad something was finally being done about it.

* * *

Shortly before noon, Judy and Nick came off duty temporarily and ceded their sector to Officer Wolford. Nick was starting to get hungry and figured he would probably grab a snack in the cafeteria while Judy had her talk with Bogo. She warned him only something small, and not sugary. Ever since becoming an officer, Nick had started to eat considerably more due to his more active lifestyle. As his body's demands for food increased, Judy had done her best to curtail his less-healthy eating habits and keep him eating just the right kind of food to remain healthy and able to do the more strenuous activities their job required. The cafeteria was usually a place where she policed his eating habits, but if she were out of sight, maybe he could get some comfort food.

Judy brought the squad car back to the garage and locked up, then went straight to the Office of the Chief. As she approached, the door opened and McHorn walked out, dragging his hooves and looking brow-beaten. He spied Judy nearby and scrunched his lips tightly. Whatever he thought to say or do he either thought better or just decided it was not worth the effort and went walking on. Judy had never seen McHorn look so dejected before.

"Hopps, daylight's burning. Come on in." The Chief called to her.

She turned around and entered through the door. The Chief closed it behind her.

"Take a seat, Hopps."

She got up on the chair and faced the desk as the Chief walked around it and took a seat.

"Chief, is McHorn all right?" She asked.

"Confidential meetings Hopps. I don't tell you about the other's meetings, and I don't tell them about yours."

She sat down and allowed her ears to droop. More than likely McHorn was in some sort of trouble with the department. Judy thought she would be pleased to see justice being done, but the faces of those she saw punished... once in a while it could get to her.

Bogo launched right into the discussion.

"So Hopps, here we are with another departmental upheaval of your initiation." Though he sounded less than enthused, the Chief did not seem to regard this as a waste of time.

"Only making sure we practice justice within _and_ without Chief." She replied.

"Well now the spotlight falls on _you_ Hopps. Do you know why I called you in?"

"Does it have to do with our discussion after the morning meeting last Monday?"

"Not directly, though if you want to make any official statements about that, one of the sub-investigators back in the Cubicle Jungle I'm sure will take it down as part of my own investigation. We're here to discuss what prompted that exchange; specifically dealing with what you and your partner were doing at the concert the week before that discussion. I thought you and Wilde were behaving inappropriately, I informed you and you alone of my thoughts, and now we're going to discuss what I saw and try to understand your actions. After my own inquiries you're free to submit additional statements to the Investigating Team from Internal Affairs that I mentioned earlier."

Judy settled herself into the chair and looked back at her Chief with all measure of respect, but with a glance behind her eyes that seemed to say: _bring it_.

* * *

While Judy was in her session with Bogo, Nick went to the cafeteria and tried to sweet-talk one of the staff there into letting him purchase one of his favorite comfort foods: creamed crickets. Not the healthiest or tastiest of choices, but one that Nick always associated with some of his better meals as a younger kit. A simpler and at moments even happier time.

One thing that Nick had learned, as an acquaintance of Judy, was that she put plans in place that endured even in her absence. In this case, she was good friends with the kitchen staff and told them that Nick would be served very specific kinds of food; creamed crickets were not on that list of acceptable fare.

Yet where there were crafty control-freaks like Judy, there were also crafty sneaks like Nick.

He had to effectively bribe both the cooks and the cashier to get them to rescind on what they had been asked to do by Judy, so he ended up paying almost double for the food. Even so, when he sat down at his table with a steaming cardboard bowl of the insect stew he was instantly glad to have it. He needed a little comfort right now. He had seen a number of their fellow officers go up to the office this past week, stay for what seemed a long time, and then come out looking quite shaken. In some cases the officers emerged looking very down and had left work - most likely on suspension. Some had left the office looking angry, and on one occasion an officer came out of Bogo's office in tears. Nick was not sure what was in store for him or Judy, but he hoped neither of them came away looking so down about it.

As Nick munched on his creamed crickets, Officer Delgato came into the seating area, walking slowly like he had a lot on his mind. He raised his mane just enough to spot Nick. Both officers locked eyes and in acknowledgement of the other's presence, Nick tilted his head. Delgato returned the nod and walked over to sit near him. The lion put his paw on the chair opposite Nick and by a few non-verbal exchanges they agreed that Delgato would sit.

"I'm being called in for questioning any minute now." Delgato said at last.

Thinking back to Delgato's treatment of Fangmeyer, Nick had little sympathy. "I'm up for questions at the end of my shift tonight." He responded with a noncommittal air. Delgato didn't seem to catch the attitude Nick had for him. He seemed genuinely surprised that Nick was going to be questioned at all.

"Wouldn't have thought you would have complaints against you. You're pretty new here."

Nick did not want to share that much of what was going on in his own hearing; it was his business after all. However, Delgato's frankness was a bit disarming, so he decided to at least share the basics. "The Chief saw what he thought was inappropriate behavior at the concert after party a couple weeks ago. He and I are just clearing the air I guess... I hope."

"Lucky you. I wish I was as confident about what I've got in store for me. I received a complaint against me a little while back. I was told by the one who made the complaint that it was no longer an issue and she said she was withdrawing it, but I guess the Chief needs to be sure."

"Do you know who complained?" Nick asked.

Delgato nodded. "Yeah, Fangmeyer. She was right to do it, I did do something inappropriate, but I thought we moved passed it."

Nick didn't like the fact that Delgato seemed to think there was nothing to his misconduct, but kept a lid on his thoughts.

"You've been here long enough I'm sure you heard me tease her a bit. You know why I do it?"

Nick shrugged.

"I was a shrimpy cat when I was younger. Rail thin, poor physical condition, a lot of my playmates said I'd never grow to be a real lion."

Hearing that made Nick think of his own childhood and he instantly had some sympathy for his fellow officer. "Sometimes I think kits can be crueler than any perp we deal with." He offered.

Delgato nodded. "Fangmeyer was one of the popular cats at my school. She used to call me 'pussycat' because of my small stature."

Nick nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry."

Delgato looked up with a bemused grin. "Strangely I'm not. Her put-downs got me to push myself harder to succeed. I think half of the reason I'm here is because of it. I told her back then that one day I was going to prove myself a tougher cat than she'd ever seen. I worked myself ragged to get good grades, exercised more, had my growth spurt and then went to the Academy. And when I made officer and we ended up in the same precinct I... I rubbed her nose in it quite a bit. I guess I was pretty immature about it, but I felt like getting her back for all the grief she gave me when we were younger."

Nick was stunned to hear this. Delgato wasn't an unusually big cat, but Nick had assumed he was just another meat-headed jock who had always been the big cat in his domain. Just last year he had seen Delgato in Savanna Central during a chase involving a 'savage' Siberian Tiger. It had been a few weeks after Nick's fallout with Judy over her derogatory comments about predators, Nick was just out walking when suddenly the tiger just went crazy and savaged several animals in the park. The lion officer was walking by and almost single-handedly incapacitated the drugged-out tiger and had him in handcuffs even before SWAT had arrived. The tiger had obvious advantages in both size and strength, but Delgato still came out on top. He had looked pretty smug about it too when it happened.

The ribbing that Delgato gave Fangmeyer always seemed more flirtatious than vindictive. Now it turned out to be a bit of late childhood payback. It may have been immature and unprofessional in the grand scheme of things, but not quite the inappropriate, sexual harassment kind of behavior Nick had presumed.

As this went through Nick's head, Delgato chuckled and then spoke.

"Never would have thought I would have developed a thing for her."

That got Nick to do a double take.

"You... you're into her? After all of that?"

"Heh, yeah. She and I used to flirt a lot on the job since we can't date or anything; partners and all. Kind of nice in a way. We work together, look out for each other, we've gotten to be really good friends. Almost like we were in some weird, arranged marriage kind of situation... Anyway, a couple of months back, before you joined I guess, she got a boyfriend. I've given her grief about it everyday since."

He looked down with a melancholy expression, his mane drooping around his face.

"It helps, you know? You act like a jerk so you feel like not being together the way she is with her boyfriend is how it's supposed to be."

Nick did not know what to think if that. He was sure he would rib Judy if she ever got a boyfriend, but not because he felt the need to justify a lack of similar relations with her. Nick had now become hooked on the topic of Delgato and Fangmeyer and wanted to hear more. Delgato looked emotionally deflated, so Nick decided to infuse a little more energy into the conversation.

"So... why are you being called in? What was her complaint?"

Delgato looked up, this time not as bemused and a little more withdrawn. "About a month ago I went out to a bar with Fangmeyer and Grizzoli after work. She was a bit upset, some fight with her boyfriend. Grizzoli went home early but I stayed to comfort her. She got a bit emotional and I - stupid of me really - I kissed her because I thought she needed to feel cared for. She kissed back for a bit, but then backed away when she realized what we were doing and left. Then the morning after, she told me she had submitted a complaint the night before. She said she was sorry and was withdrawing it, but I felt angry about the whole situation... the teasing got a little out of control after that... I'm hoping the Chief is merciful about it, but I think I may have pushed my luck. Jayashri was in there with him earlier. I'm sure the part about the kiss will come up again. She said she wasn't upset about it and didn't begrudge me the slip in etiquette... still, I wish it didn't go down like this."

Nick was floored by this news. All he had seen was this big jock of a lion picking on a female leopard. Now it turned out _she_ used to be the bully and this whole exchange had come from an escalation of childhood payback and one-upmanship that culminated in a forward display of affection. Nick was hardly one to judge these matters, but it suddenly seemed just a little less clear whether the fault lay purely with Delgato.

"Uh sorry for bothering you with all of this Wilde. I know you don't know me or anything about any of this. Maybe that's why I feel like telling you. You're still a bit of a stranger so you have no reason to side with either me or Fangmeyer... Anyway, wish me luck. I'm hoping he bites off my head quickly."

With that, Delgato left and headed up the stairs to Bogo's office. Nick suddenly felt sickened thinking that he might have cost a seemingly decent mammal dearly in his career. More than the problems Delgato might have with department policy, Nick felt sorry for what had become of his partnership and friendship with Fangmeyer.

"Yeah, good luck." He said as the lion walked away.

Nick did not sit alone for long. Grizzoli materialized near the stairs where he had lost sight of Delgato. As the polar bear walked by Nick could see the solemn frustration in his walk. He looked annoyed, but more than anything he seemed concerned.

Nick decided to speak.

"So that's why you were concerned about the investigation."

Grizzoli looked at him, first with a look of annoyance, but then a softening of the features led to a frustrated look of acceptance.

"Rick told you about Jayashri's report, huh?" He didn't wait for Nick to answer. "He's been one of my teammates since I started here. I knew he had a thing for her, but they seemed to have made peace. Now with this... who knows what the Chief is gonna do to him."

Nick looked down.

"I'm sorry about that. I get what it means to want to look out for a friend."

Grizzoli looked up and then let his eyes relax as he accepted Nick's words.

"I just hope he'll be okay."

The bear officer walked away and Nick decided he had no more appetite for the crickets. He tossed them in a nearby waste bin and just sat waiting for Judy. He went over some of the citations he had written over the week in his notepad, deciding if he needed to revisit any of them and if they warranted further consideration. Most did not.

Once Judy was out of her session with the Chief, they returned to the garage, go to their car, and went back out on patrol. The rest of the day seemed to go by in a flash. Nick was again in the passenger seat and though he spoke to Judy when spoken to, he had little to say. He sat there keeping his thoughts bottled up and feeling glum. The talk with Delgato had gotten to him, especially the backstory about the lion as a cub and his interactions with Fangmeyer way back when. Nick did not hold Jayashri in low-esteem because of past bullying, he had known a great many bullies as a kit, and he had seen some grow out of it and become better animals; Fangmeyer seemed to fit that with that group. Nick ultimately admitted that he felt glum because he found reason to empathize with the perpetrators that had brought all of this about. The only upside he could see from the interaction was that Delgato seemed to feel comfortable enough to share problems with Nick in a tense moment and Grizzoli had at least looked upon Nick with something other than disdain... if only this kind of trust would hold.

Judy herself looked a little deflated after talking with Bogo. Which is to say, she looked just happy instead of exuberant to be out on the beat that afternoon.

* * *

Later in the afternoon and after their shift, Judy and Nick had returned to the station so Nick could have his own session with the Chief. He arrived on schedule, but one of the earlier sessions had run long and Bogo had some other departmental issues to attend to, so Nick had to wait. He now sat fidgeting nervously outside of the office and waited to be called in. Having nothing to do regarding the situation at hand, and with Judy off taking care of their reports, Nick took the time to reflect on the events of the past few days. The confrontation with McHorn and Grizzoli was of course one of the more scary events, though he seemed to at least be at a slightly better place with Grizzoli after Delgato shared his concerns about the interrogation. Despite the solidarity Nick maintained with Judy on the issue, few of the other officers seemed to maintain solidarity with him. Fangmeyer, Francine, Sharp and the other officers that had started to support the new measures had mostly sided with Judy but shown Nick little in the way of regard. Nick just happened to be on the side of the argument with growing numbers, he was still not counted as one of them.

The tension around the precinct was at near boiling and Nick was getting even more disdainful looks than usual. Ever since the confrontation with McHorn and Grizzoli he had been accosted on two other occasions by others who had seemed to reach the conclusion that a fox, regardless of uniform or character, was the first suspect in this departmental debacle. Nick had suffered prejudice for most of his life, and he had known that wearing a badge would not change that fact, but there was one thing he _had_ been counting on when he made officer: he would be part of a pack.

If the last week was any indicator for Nick it was that the pack had not welcomed him. A few of its members like Judy and Ben cared for and supported him, and he seemed to be on tolerable terms with Bogo, Maddox, Fangmeyer, Sharp and perhaps even Delgato, but the vast majority of officers were not favorably disposed towards him and had made no secret of it now that the department was in upheaval. Nick knew being a fox did not endear him to a lot of animals, but after coming through the Academy at the top of his class, working with Judy, and doing his level best as a cop for the past several months, he had hoped that some of them would at least consider looking at his accomplishments and making judgments on those qualities... they had not.

As Nick stewed in his thoughts, who should come trotting by but the one individual in the whole precinct who seemed to remain blissfully unaffected by the Chief's crack-down. Ben was wearing police track clothes and trotting toward the gym.

"Hey Nick. You wanna join me for a jog? I got two miles to complete and I got side-by-side treadmills picked out for me and just one more."

Nick grinned. Happy to see someone staying above the fray, and even more importantly, willing to talk to him in a friendly tone.

"That sounds great Ben. But I'm due for a grilling in the office any minute now. Save me a treadmill for another day, buddy."

As if in answer, the Chief's door opened, and the horned head looked over at the chairs where the fox and cheetah officers spoke.

"Wilde, come in." Came Bogo's stolid voice before his head went back inside and left the door slightly ajar.

Ben looked to Nick, who gave him a look that seemed to say 'here goes nothin'. Ben went jogging towards the gym, and Nick trudged towards the office.

* * *

Wilde entered the office and saw the Chief bent over his desk making some notes on a sheet of paper. The great horned head lifted and spotted the fox.

"Take a seat, Wilde." He motioned to the chair before turning back to his paperwork on the desk.

Wilde came forward and hopped up onto the chair. He found himself right under Bogo's nose and was suitably intimidated to be looking up at the Chief from this chair.

"As I recall, the last time we were in my office you informed me that I should have come down on _you_ instead of Hopps regarding that issue at the concert, Wilde. We'll we're here to go over that incident in explicit detail and determine whether I _do_ need to come down on you after all."

Wilde gulped. Bogo set out a sheet of paper and drew a pen from a cup on his desk. His eyes never strayed from Wilde.

"On Friday night, two weeks previously, at the Concert Event where the incident that led to this long overdue shake-up occurred, I cited the behavior between you and your partner, Officer Judith Hopps, as being unprofessional and directed my disappointment explicitly towards Officer Hopps. You informed me that this neglected both your _own_ involvement and the question of who initiated the actions which I identified as inappropriate. So I am going to start by asking some questions:  
The night of the concert, did you make any suggestive advances towards Officer Hopps?"

"No I did not." Wilde answered flatly.

"Did you make physical contact with Officer Hopps in excess of the limits of her personal space?"

"I... bumped my chest against her back a few times, as a tease. My actions were those of a friend, I wasn't trying to proposition her. And it wasn't intended to make her receptive to anything or make her uncomfortable. We've made similar contact when hanging out after work or in the gym. It was a friendly gesture in those instances, it was a friendly gesture in this instance too."

Bogo nodded and wrote something on the paper in front of him without looking down or away from Wilde.

"Did Officer Hopps at any point give signals, either physical or verbal that your conduct was unwelcome or making her uncomfortable?"

Wilde calmly shook his head. "No, she's my friend and she trusts me. She never said anything was wrong with my behavior and I have every confidence that she'd have said something if I did anything inappropriate."

Again Bogo nodded and wrote.

"Did Officer Hopps give you signals, physical or verbal, that she desired further contact?"

"No."

Scribble.

"Did Officer Hopps respond to your interactions in any way, and if so, how?"

"She elbowed me back, rather softly given her strength, and she smiled at me. She called me a 'jerk' in a manner that was also teasing. Pretty much an echo of the attitude I was directing at her."

Bogo scribbled as Wilde spoke, then he asked further:

"Was your interpretation of these events suspect, Wilde? Were you inebriated or otherwise impaired regarding your ability to exercise proper judgment?"

"I had one drink that I nursed during the evening, but only the one, and I remained entirely lucid."

Bogo wrote again while holding his gaze. Wilde imagined that as an officer pulling over a driver this kind of simultaneous staring and writing would terrify a number of animals; Wilde was certainly quite intimidated.

"You admit to having taken substances that may have compromised your senses?"

Wilde was delicate in his response.

"I admit I consumed a substance that in _excess_ would compromise my senses. I did _not_ consume to excess and was aware of my actions, and as I said before, they were those of a friend, and not meant to solicit anything from Officer Hopps."

More staring and scribbling.

"Have you ever shown this kind of behavior to other members of the department either on or off duty?"

The questions continued for several more minutes. Bogo continued scribbling and never looked away. Wilde had no choice but to maintain the same excruciatingly direct eye-contact. It began to wear on the fox, particularly since many of the questions were echoes of previous questions but were phrased differently in order to see if there would be an inconsistency with his earlier answers. Finally Bogo dropped the pen, folded his hooves and craned forward to look at Wilde.

"What is your interpretation of the events in question, Wilde? Give me a summation."

Wilde exhaled, avoiding any semblance of a temper over the repeated questioning on the these events and the harsh insinuations that they carried.

"My interpretation is that my partner and I were at a social gathering as friends. We spent a lot of our time together, and we frequently interacted with friendly, non-sexual, physical contact and some mild verbal teasing. Clearly it was not interpreted that way by others and we seem to have overstepped the boundaries of professionalism. I'll make sure there isn't a repeat of this in the future. I _will_ emphasize, however, that I've always tried to be professional when representing my uniform and this department, and I have never had or hinted at any kind of romantic interest in my partner or any other member of the department."

Bogo nodded and sat back.

"That's about what I gathered... Officer Wilde, your statements are in agreement with those of Officer Hopps, and I have determined that your actions and hers do not fall under the umbrella of misconduct. Therefore I see no further need for any more inquiries. You are welcome to make a formal statement to the Internal Affairs investigative team if you wish. If you mention anything there that you failed to mention here you may be called for further questioning to make sure we have a complete picture of this incident."

He took up the sheet of paper and another that was resting on the desk, most likely the notes on Judy's testimony, and dropped both in a manila envelope that he then stuck in one of the drawers of his desk.

"I am returning both you and Officer Hopps to active duty tomorrow. You will be receiving a new assignment in the morning. And I trust that your professionalism will remain in effect as you continue your duties."

Nick had to do a mild double take and then nodded.

"Was there anything more you felt needed to be discussed?" Bogo asked.

Wilde wanted to ask about Delgato to see if the big cat had come out all right. He had no great sympathy for Delgato, but the lion seemed a decent enough officer; such that at the very least Wilde did not wish him ill. He could not really come up with a reason that justified the Chief telling him what had happened, so he settled for not mentioning it.

"Uh, no. Nothing comes to mind that would count as any of my business. I just... hope everyone's getting the same fair treatment I seem to have gotten."

"I'm being as fair as policy and circumstances permit me Wilde. If there's no other business, then that'll be all. Dismissed Officer Wilde."

Wilde decided to let it go for now. He got down from the chair and started to make his way to the door.

"And Wilde." The Chief said as Wilde reached for the handle. Wilde turned back. The Chief still had his stoic grimace, but there was a softening in the eyes that Wilde could almost identify as respect. "Your earnestness about fairness is appreciated," the Chief continued. "Don't ever lose your grasp on it."

Wilde nodded and turned the handle.

* * *

Judy met Nick as he left Bogo's office.

"I think something good came out of all of this." She smiled. Nick looked at her with a more cynical expression.

"If you say so partner."

She persisted. "I mean it. We got the department to self-scrutinize, we got them to admit to internal misconduct, we got the Chief to evaluate the situation and self-evaluate, and we came out of it without getting in trouble ourselves."

Nick thought back on the call to the Payroll office and how his offenses in his former life almost got noticed and threatened his current doings. He thought of Delgato, about whom he still had not learned anything new. He thought about McHorn and Grizzoli, and the other officers who had taken out their frustrations on him and would no doubt continue to do so in the times ahead. He also thought of Fangmeyer and the other officers who were on his side of this argument, but still did not see him as one of them.

Nick thought of all of this and found he was unsure whether he could agree with Judy. She would probably go on being the darling little bunny officer who kept a starry-eyed view of the world and hoped to keep making a difference. For himself, Nick could only see the prejudice that surrounded him, and he felt his natural cut-and-run urge starting to build.

"Somehow I don't think we're done just yet. What happens if officers start getting suspended? Or fired?"

Judy had a momentary flashback to the sight of McHorn trudging out of the office and how down he looked. The sympathetic side in her agreed it was sad, but the ambitious, do-gooder side in her said that it was his own doing that led to this and he deserved what he had coming.  
"That isn't our doing," she said. "Rules are rules and we have these particular ones for a reason. We just got the department to remember to enforce them."

"Like you said Carrots: 'we got them to...'. _We_ started this thing. I'm not saying we shouldn't have, but I have a feeling there will be some problems. For the department and all of us."

"So we stick together. Partners and teammates." She responded in a peppy tone. Nick found he had no enthusiasm left to help give a smile.

The gym door down the hallway opened up and out staggered Benjamin Clawhauser wearing a sweatband and officer training clothes. Ben was looking super worn out, huffing and puffing as he moved, but he still had a grin for Judy and Nick as he came trotting down the hall.

"Hey guys. I'm off for a cool-down jog. Interested?"

"Not tonight Ben, let me know the next time, I'll go with you." Judy said. Nick gave a grin to show his thoughts were the same as Judy's. Ben shrugged.

"Suit yourself… See ya tomorrow. And hey Nick, next run - you're with me."

The big cat shuffled passed them, his steps landed heavily on the stairs, but he continued moving. They watched him until he exited building and closed the front door behind him.

"Well, at least we'll always have Ben."

A look went from the listener to the speaker before both descended into spasms of laughter.

"Good one Carrots."

* * *

 _I have touched on these stories off and on for several months now and I could not focus on one with my dissertation in the works and now a new, more demanding job. The first chapter of this story was always planned, but the other chapters grew out of my mental wanderings when I realized a lot of my writing was predominantly focused on Nick, and did not address issues that Judy may face as a minority gender in her line of work._

 _Additionally, I thought this story provided a good first step towards the events I have planned for later stories. The tone at the end of the movie was quite cheerful, but I felt that a compelling story needed to address many of the attitudes that persisted and were left unresolved. The department did not just magically accept Nick, the movie itself criticizes the insipid idea of all dreams coming true so easily._

 _Also, just because Judy solved a case with Nick's help and welcomed him to the police service as her partner does not mean the whole of Zootopia has adopted Judy's bright-eyed, hopeful, and inclusive way of thinking. Further, just because she got over her own prejudices does not mean everyone else has forgotten their own._

 _In my story, Judy got a lot of animals to address some pervasive issues related to gender, but as a result of this intervention, Nick has become a target for continued prejudice related to his species. Judy, Ben, and to some extent, Bogo, may just see him as Nick Wilde and a descent animal, but the rest of Zootopia is not yet adjusted to the idea of a fox law enforcement official._

 _That will be the topic of my next story_ 'The Rabbit, The Fox, and the Wild' (Rated M) _. I hope you keep reading._


End file.
